CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Bookmakers: Licensing

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received on the level of licence fees from the Gambling Commission for bookmakers; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: My Department has received 246 responses relating to this issue. This includes 134 formal responses to the consultation exercise in 2006 and 112 associated follow-up queries. We have also had a number of meetings with representatives of the betting industry, including with the Association of British Bookmakers.

Departments: Carbon Emissions

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what methodology is used by her Department to account for its carbon emissions.

David Lammy: The Department has not formally adopted a methodology to account for its carbon emissions. We calculate our carbon emissions following DEFRA guidelines.

Departments: Public Relations

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent by her Department on public relations in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: The Department's public relations spend in the last five years occurred only in 2004-05 and 2005-06 and relates to the digital campaign, aimed at increasing public awareness of digital switchover, and the licensing campaign aimed at small businesses to increase awareness of the implications of the Licensing Act.
	
		
			   Spend (£) 
			 2004-05 100,000 
			 2005-06 250,000 
			 2005-06 24,300

Departments: Sign Language

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the merits of providing British Sign Language (BSL) videos on her departmental website for the benefit of those whose first language is BSL.

David Lammy: My Department has made no assessment of the merits of providing British Sign Language videos on its departmental website.

National Lottery

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many representations she had received as of 4 June 2007 on the Gambling (Lottery Machine Interval) Order; what assessment her Department has conducted of the likely effect of the implementation of such an order on small clubs; what discussions she has had with representatives of licensed establishments that cannot sell lottery tickets from vending machines concerning the order; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The consultation on the Gambling (Lottery Machine Interval) Order 2007 closed on Friday 18 May. The Department received 18 formal responses. In addition, more than 200 clubs and a number of hon. Members wrote to the Department.
	A partial regulatory impact assessment was issued alongside the consultation and is available on the Department's website at
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/Gambling_racing/QuickLinks/Consultations/?expand=2007_closed_consultations
	A full regulatory impact assessment is currently being prepared and will be available shortly in the House Library.
	Ministers and officials have met representatives of the clubs sector on a number of occasions to discuss the order.

National Lottery: Sales

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the monthly sales of the Olympic lottery game have been since its launch; and what the monthly sales of all other lottery games have been over the same period.

Richard Caborn: The table (provided by the National Lottery Commission) shows the split between sales of National Lottery games designated to support the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games and all other National Lottery games. The figures are monthly and go back to July 2005 when the first game designated to support the Olympics went on sale.
	
		
			  Month  NLDF sales  OLDF sales  Total sales 
			  2005
			 July 508,018,924 272,493 508,291,417 
			 August 370,245,832 5,370,216 375,616,048 
			 September 366,530,671 4,526,347 371,057,018 
			 October 445,823,655 5,473,990 451,297,645 
			 November 362,404,450 3,625,094 366,029,544 
			 December 474,765,469 3,813,771 478,579,241 
			 
			  2006
			 January 448,994,006 7,435,371 456,429,377 
			 February 409,802,098 15,005,060 424,807,158 
			 March 362,890,506 15,517,327 378,407,833 
			 April 447,954,473 9,721,769 457,676,242 
			 May 352,895,359 8,030,915 360,926,273 
			 June 349,081,164 6,826,427 355,907,591 
			 July 432,523,867 16,434,352 448,958,219 
			 August 342,507,120 18,427,346 360,934,466 
			 September 430,610,691 21.796,695 452,407,386 
			 October 395,378,054 19,888,015 415,266,069 
			 November 430,491,594 20,222,146 450,713,739 
			 December 435,816,849 23,739,535 459,556,384 
			 
			  2007
			 January 338,847,852 20,531,989 359,379,842 
			 February 361,523,375 23,344,416 384,867,792 
			 March 426,964,830 26,514,508 453,479,338

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Adult Education: Basic Skills

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many  (a) adults and  (b) adults over 25 years received (i) Learning and Skills Council funding and (ii) funding through Train to Gain in (A) 2003-04, (B) 2004-05 and (C) 2005-06.

Phil Hope: Figures for adults funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) can be derived from the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). The following table shows the number of adult learners (aged 19 and over) and adult learners aged 25 and over on LSC-funded further education, Work Based Learning and Adult and Community Learning provision in 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2005/06.
	
		
			  Thousand 
			   Adults  Adults aged 25+ 
			 2003/04 4,587.8 3,801.8 
			 2004/05 4,547.1 3,731.1 
			 2005/06 3,872.4 3,125.4 
		
	
	The Train to Gain programme was piloted from April 2006 onwards. A full rollout of Train to Gain commenced from 1 August 2006. To January 2007 there have been 89,000 learners who have enrolled on Train to Gain.

Pre-School Education: Codes of Practice

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if his Department will commission an independent regulatory impact assessment on the 2006 Code of Practice on free entitlement to nursery education; and what assessment he has made of the impact of the implementation of the code on the number of children's nurseries.

Beverley Hughes: The single substantive change to the delivery of the free early education entitlement, set out in the 2006 code of practice, was the extension of the minimum free entitlement from 33 to 38 weeks. Following full public consultation, we made clear our recognition that not all providers would be able to extend their provision to 38 weeks and that, at each local authority's discretion, they could be funded for the provision they actually delivered. Furthermore, all local authorities received additional funding to support the extension to the free entitlement. We therefore concluded that there should not be a substantive regulatory impact and that a regulatory impact assessment was not required. We have no plans therefore for an independent impact assessment.
	We have no evidence of the code of practice having a significant impact on the number of early years settings.

Pre-School Education: Finance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what consideration local authorities give to the level of private, voluntary and independent nursery sector provision when determining the levels of funding under the free entitlement requirements for providers in the area.

Beverley Hughes: Funding for nursery education provision is provided to local authorities through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Local authorities—in consultation with their School Forums—are responsible for deciding how best to apply their total school and early years funding across all age groups and between different types of provider, based on an assessment of local circumstances.
	The code of practice on the provision of free nursery education places for three and four-year-olds requires local authorities to ensure settings are funded equitably, transparently and fairly, reflecting local need and circumstances. My letter in December 2006, to all local authority chief executives reiterated this point and asked them to reassure themselves that their funding levels support a diverse local child care market and take into account the impact on provider sustainability.

Vocational Training: Finance

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many  (a) adult learners and  (b) adult learners over 25 years receiving Learning and Skills Council funding excluding funding through Train to Gain were given workplace training in (i) 2003-04, (ii) 2004-05 and (iii) 2005-06, broken down by number of hours of workplace training given.

Phil Hope: Figures for adults funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) can be derived from the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). The following table shows the number of adult learners (aged 19 and over) and adult learners aged 25 and over on LSC-funded work based learning provision in 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2005/06.
	
		
			  Thousand 
			   Adults  Adults aged 25+ 
			 2003/04 235.7 3.0 
			 2004/05 227.2 7.2 
			 2005/06 217.6 9.0 
		
	
	It is not possible to break down these figures by number of hours of work place training given as this varies for each type of provision and subject sector. The Train to Gain programme was piloted from April 2006 with a full rollout commencing from 1 August 2006 and Train to Gain activity is recorded for the first time in the 2006/07 ILR.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Departments: Surveys

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will place in the Library copies of his Department's employee surveys for  (a) 2001,  (b) 2002,  (c) 2004 and  (d) 2005.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Staff surveys are valuable tools used by Departments to help them improve performance. The results of the recent Department of Trade and Industry survey are available on the civil service website at:
	http://www.civilservice.gov/uk/management/statistics/news/staff_survey/index.asp

Employment: North West Region

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will break down by employer the number of jobs safeguarded or created as mentioned on page two of the Northwest Development Agency's Improving the Economic Performance of England's Northwest document, dated February 2007.

Margaret Hodge: The NWDA does not collect data in the form requested. The agency has safeguarded or created 161,208 jobs between 1999 and 2006 as reported in the Improving the Economic Performance of England's Northwest report. The breakdown, by Regional Economic Strategy (RES) theme, is as follows:
	
		
			  Employment 1999-2006 
			   Number 
			  Business Growth  
			 Exploiting the growth potential of business sectors, for example through cluster programmes and international trade 19,476 
			   
			  Improve the competitiveness and productivity of businesses  
			 Providing high quality business support, supply chain development, management and work force development, and exploiting the region's knowledge base 23,569 
			   
			  Urban, Rural and Economic Inclusion  
			 Implementing the Urban Regeneration Companies, regenerating deprived areas, brownfield land, housing, implementing the Regional Rural Recovery Plan and market towns, encouraging social enterprise, start ups from ethnic minorities, community finance and addressing barriers to work 105,986 
			  A Healthy Labour Market  
			 Improving adult basic skills, the demand for and participation in learning, graduate retention, and the integration of business support and skills development activities 698 
			   
			  Strategic transport, communications and infrastructure  
			 Identifying and championing the implementation of strategic transport initiatives, preparing a Regional Transport Strategy, supporting Regional Planning Guidance, broadband and regional cities 833 
			   
			  Employment sites  
			 Securing the development of strategic regional sites and a portfolio of sub-regional and local employment sites 10,106 
			   
			  Image  
			 Regional marketing programmes, culture, tourism and major events in the region 540 
			 Total 161,208 
		
	
	Of the 161,208 jobs, 100,283 jobs were created or safeguarded between 1999 and 2002. Examples of some of the larger inward investments from this period include:
	
		
			  Company  Jobs created/safeguarded 
			 MBNA 1,200 
			 HJ Heinz 1,300 
			 QVC 100 
			 Vauxhall 850 
			 Fujitsu 1,000 
			 Ryder Group 470 
		
	
	The following table provides a breakdown, by year, of the 28,965.5 jobs created or safeguarded through inward investment projects 2002-06.
	
		
			   New jobs  Jobs safeguarded 
			 2002-03 8,143 1,558 
			 2003-04 4,400 6,539.5 
			 2004-05 3,214 2,389 
			 2005-06 1,872 850 
			 Total 17,629 11,336.5 
		
	
	Examples of some of the larger inward investments from this period include:
	
		
			  Company  Jobs created/safeguarded 
			 MBNA 2,000 
			 Caudwell Communications 1,000 
			 INEOS Chlor 3,500 
			 Bentley 886 
		
	
	It is not possible to provide a full breakdown by employer as this information is confidential and commercially sensitive.

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many claims by former miners or their families have yet to be settled in respect of compensation for  (a) chronic bronchitis, emphysema or other respiratory diseases,  (b) vibration white finger,  (c) carpal tunnel syndrome and  (d) pneumoconiosis in (i) Stoke-on-Trent Central, (ii) Stoke-on-Trent North, (iii) Stoke-on-Trent South, (iv) Stone and (v) Stafford constituencies; and how many claimants in each category have received interim payments.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 11 June 2007
	The following tables show the information requested. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) covers chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
	
		
			Stoke-on-Trent, Central constituency  Stoke-on-Trent, North constituency  Stoke-on-Trent, South constituency 
			Miners  Families  Miners  Families  Miners  Families 
			 COPD claims Claims registered 762 1,123 928 1,710 1,578 1,752 
			  Claimants who have received an interim payment 112 161 135 274 165 240 
			  Total outstanding 124 427 141 653 237 691 
			  Total settlements 638 696 787 1,057 1,341 1,061 
			 
			 VWF claims Claims registered 434 55 446 56 993 96 
			  Claimants who received an interim payment 152 11 187 11 408 29 
			  Total outstanding 32 5 47 5 110 6 
			  Total settlements 402 50 401 51 883 90 
			 
			 Carpal tunnel syndrome claims Claims registered 43 6 34 3 108 3 
			  Claimants who received an interim payment 20 4 15 1 60 2 
			  Total outstanding 4 1 4 — 22 1 
			  Total settlements 39 5 28 3 86 2 
		
	
	
		
			Stone constituency  Stafford constituency 
			Miners  Families  Miners  Families 
			 COPD claims Claims registered 592 532 133 135 
			  Claimants who have received an interim payment 37 70 6 10 
			  Total outstanding 79 209 14 52 
			  Total settlements 513 323 119 83 
			   
			 VWF claims Claims registered 340 22 74 7 
			  Claimants who received an interim payment 135 4 30 1 
			  Total outstanding 29 1 11 — 
			  Total settlements 311 21 63 7 
			   
			 Carpal tunnel syndrome claims Claims registered 36 3 — — 
			  Claimants who received an interim 21 3 — — 
			  Total outstanding 9 1 — — 
			  Total settlements 27 2 — — 
			  Note: The figures include almost 5,000 overseas claims. 
		
	
	The Department is unable to identify those COPD claims which include a pneumoconiosis element. However, under the Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis Scheme (CWPS) we have received 83,759 claims, 82,595 of which have been settled by payment, denial or withdrawal.
	We have realised that there was an error in the answer given to the parliamentary question tabled on the 6 June 2007, recorded in  Hansard on 23 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1351W, regarding the figures for pneumoconiosis under CWPS. I have written to you about the error and will place copies of the letter in the Libraries of the House.

Leeds United Football Club

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will assess the implications of Leeds United Football Club's move into administration for the effectiveness of the regulation relating to companies entering administration where a party involved in the decision to initiate the process has a commercial interest in the assets of the company.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 11 June 2007
	I should state at the outset that the Secretary of State has no powers to impede a company moving into administration as this process is commenced by way of a court order or as a result of a qualifying floating charge holder, company or its directors filing a Notice of Appointment at court.
	Administrators, as licensed insolvency practitioners, are regulated professionals and are obliged by law to perform their functions in the interests of the company's creditors as a whole. Accordingly, where there is a sale of assets to a connected party of the company in administration, the administrators will need to have satisfied themselves that they are not only achieving the best possible price in the circumstances but that it is an arm's length transaction. Such a sale is sometimes the best option for delivering value for creditors. The Secretary of State has no power to stop a sale and even if he did, such a power could harm the interests of creditors of the company, many of whom have already lost considerable sums as a result of the failure. It is only a creditor or member of a company in administration that can apply to the court if they consider the administrator is acting, has acted, or proposes to act so as unfairly to harm the interests of the applicant (whether alone or in common with some or all members or creditors).
	I believe it is important to emphasise that in the specific case mentioned, the administrators agreed to the sale of assets on the condition that it would be approved by the body of creditors as part of a proposal to put the company into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) and that this arrangement was approved on 1 June by more than 75 per cent. of creditors in value.
	This Government want to promote an effective framework for corporate activity, to give confidence to investors, business and other stakeholders. Within that framework it is essential that we have an insolvency regime, which, while encouraging enterprise and reducing the stigma associated with failure, deals fairly and effectively with financial failure and at the same time deters fraud and misconduct. I can assure you that we are fully committed to tackling abuse and misconduct and that we have in place, and in use, mechanisms to deal with that abuse.
	You may be interested to know under the Insolvency Act 1986 (before it was amended) the only option to floating charge holders would have been to have put the company into administrative receivership. Under this procedure the administrative receiver's main duty was to the appointing floating charge holder. Under the provisions of the Enterprise Act this was amended to give the option of administration so that now the interests of the creditors as a whole are taken into account. The Insolvency Service is undertaking an evaluation to assess to what extent the provisions introduced by the Enterprise Act meet the policy objectives. The final evaluation reports will be published later this year.
	I am therefore content that the existing regulatory framework is sufficiently robust to prevent abuse.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Magilligan Prison

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to announce the decision on the replacement of Magilligan prison, County Londonderry.

Paul Goggins: I announced on 21 February that I had tasked the Prison Service to provide me with a comprehensive options appraisal by the end of this summer. This is intended to enable me to announce the decision on the location of the replacement to the existing Magilligan prison before the end of the year.

Paedophilia

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to pilot in Northern Ireland the North Somerset pilot project of permitting parents to know if known paedophiles are residing nearby.

Maria Eagle: We will be carefully studying the recommendations in the Child Sex Offender Review and how they could be applied in Northern Ireland. Some are likely to be subject to pilot schemes in England and Wales and we will await the outcome of those trials before decisions are taken on the way forward.

TRANSPORT

Aircraft: Prime Minister

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made with purchasing a new aeroplane for use by the Prime Minister; what the cost of purchasing the aeroplane will be; and by what date he expects the purchase to be complete.

Gillian Merron: On 23 May 2007, the Secretary of State for Transport announced the launch of the formal procurement process and a Prior Information Notice to potential suppliers was published in the  Official Journal of the European Union on 25 May 2007.
	Sir Peter Gershon's Independent Air Travel Review, copies of which are available in the Library, set out the estimated cost and timescale for delivery of this service.

Eddington Report

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 17 April 2007,  Official Report, column 149, on the Eddington Report, which carriages will be available on the rail network by the end of 2008; and on which routes they will be available.

Tom Harris: I anticipate that orders for additional carriages will be placed between now and 2010, the first of the carriages becoming available on the network by the latter part of 2008, with a view to completing delivery between 2009 and 2013. The precise phasing of the orders will reflect where crowding relief is most urgently needed; Network Rail's timetable for any platform-lengthening or increase in power supply which is required to accommodate longer trains; and the capacity of the suppliers of rolling stock.
	It is too early to say where precisely the additional rolling stock will be used. The deployment of the new rolling stock will be agreed with the industry following the publication of the High Level Output Specification and the long-term rail strategy this summer, in accordance with the periodic review timetable set out in the Office of Rail Regulation's advice to Ministers published in February 2007.

Park and Ride Schemes

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will list the park and ride schemes which made a loss during the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the amount of the loss was in each case;
	(2)  if he will initiate a nationwide audit of park and ride schemes to assess their worth and the on-going cost to public funds of their operation.

Gillian Merron: Local authorities are responsible for funding most park and ride schemes and for monitoring their financial results. The Department for Transport does not request or require returns from local authorities about the financial performance of these schemes.

Park and Ride Schemes

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many grants his Department gave for park and ride schemes in each year between 2000 and 2006.

Gillian Merron: Most park and ride schemes are implemented by local authorities at their discretion from the general transport funding provided by Government. In addition, the Department provides project-specific funding for the construction of larger transport schemes. Between 2000 and 2006, nine of these schemes have included elements of park and ride.
	Funding for each scheme may span a number of years. The following table shows a breakdown of the nine schemes according to the year their funding began.
	
		
			   Number 
			 2000 0 
			 2001 0 
			 2002 1 
			 2003 0 
			 2004 4 
			 2005 1 
			 2006 4

Park and Ride Schemes: Bridlington

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria were used by his Department in approving a park and ride scheme for Bridlington.

Gillian Merron: The Bridlington Integrated Transport Scheme, which includes a park and ride element, was given an initial approval (Programme Entry) by this Department in July 2006.
	The decision to fund the scheme was based on the Department's assessment of East Riding of Yorkshire Council's business case. This assessment looks, in particular, at the strategic case, value for money, deliverability, and financial and commercial aspects. The value for money assessment takes into account economy, safety, integration, environment and accessibility.
	All new major local authority schemes for which project-specific funding is sought are assessed according to these criteria.

Parking: Cycleways

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will ban the parking of cars in bicycle lanes.

Gillian Merron: Cycle lanes are marked on the carriageway. There are two types:
	the mandatory cycle lane (with a solid white line) supported by a traffic regulation order, which prohibit the use of the lane by motor vehicles during its hours of operation and can prohibit parking; and
	the advisory cycle lane (with a broken white line), which while not prohibiting entry by motor vehicles can be useful in giving space to cyclists at places where the carriageway may be too narrow to safely accommodate a mandatory lane.
	As with any section of carriageway, parking in cycle lanes may be prohibited by yellow line restrictions subject to a traffic regulation order made under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

Public Transport: Crimes of Violence

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many incidents of violent behaviour were reported to the British Transport Police in each police authority area in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many violent offences were dealt with by the British Transport Police in each police authority area in each of the last 12 months;
	(3)  how many crimes were reported to the British Transport Police in each police authority area in each of the last five years; and how many of these crimes were solved;
	(4)  how many people were convicted of violent behaviour on the rail network and subsequently sentenced to a prison sentence in each of the last 12 months.

Tom Harris: This information is not held by the Department for Transport but by the British Transport police who can be contacted at: British Transport Police, 25 Camden Road, London NW1 9LN, E-mail:
	general.enquiries@btp.pnn.police.uk

Public Transport: East Sussex

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding the local transport authority in East Sussex received  (a) in total,  (b) per mile of road and  (c) per head of population in each year since 1997.

Gillian Merron: The following table shows the total funding allocated to East Sussex council in the local transport capital settlements in each year between 1997-98 and 2006-07 (inclusive) in terms of  (a) totals  (b) per mile of road and  (c) per head of population.
	
		
			  East Sussex Council 
			   Total funding (£000)  Funds per mile (£000)  Funds (£ per head) 
			 1997-98 9,047 4.29 18.21 
			 1998-99 5,449 2.59 10.97 
			 1999-2000 5,478 2.60 11.03 
			 2000-01 8,043 3.82 16.19 
			 2001-02 10,061 4.78 20.26 
			 2002-03 10,767 5.11 21.68 
			 2003-04 10,694 5.08 21.53 
			 2004-05 11,955 5.67 24.07 
			 2005-06 10,931 5.19 22.01 
			 2006-07 10,473 4.97 21.09 
		
	
	The Government also support local transport authorities through the general revenue support and councils do spend some of this support on highways and transport services according to their own priorities. In addition, the Government are providing record levels of funding for railways infrastructure through the passenger franchises and by direct grant to Network Rail. This funding is not classified by local authority area, but all local authorities have benefited from work by Network Rail to address the rail infrastructure renewals backlog. Additional support for public transport over this period has seen East Sussex being awarded a total of £3,671,920 for eight bus project schemes which include both rural and urban bus challenge schemes and for 2007-08 they received £953,263 in rural bus subsidy grant. In addition East Sussex receives Bus Service Operator Grant (BSOG) and funding for concessionary fares (through the revenue support grant).

Tankers

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the Marine Coastguard Agency involvement was with the tanker West Sailor in the Pentland Firth on 2 June; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: On 2 June, at 0846, the Aberdeen Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) received a call from the chemical tanker West Sailor, on passage through the Pentland Firth, stating she had engine room difficulties and needed to anchor to carry out repairs to the engine water cooling system.
	Aberdeen MRCC coordinated the attendance of the RNLI Longhope lifeboat. In addition the MCA Emergency Towing Vessel was brought to immediate readiness and sent to the scene.
	By 1133, the ship had successfully repaired the engines and was under way and resuming passage. The RNLI lifeboat escorted the ship through the Pentland Firth.
	The Secretary of State's Representative for Maritime Salvage and Intervention (SOSREP) was kept fully apprised of the situation.

Tolls

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to introduce road user charging schemes in  (a) Gravesham,  (b) the Thames Gateway and  (c) Kent.

Stephen Ladyman: None. Decisions on whether to introduce road user charging schemes in those areas would be for the relevant local authorities.

Vehicle Number Plates: Fire Services

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans there are to integrate on-board cameras on fire engines into the Automated Number Plate Recognition database.

Stephen Ladyman: There are no plans to integrate on-board cameras on fire engines with the DVLA's Automatic Number Plate Recognition [ANPR] database of unlicensed vehicles. DVLA's ANPR system is subject to stringent type approval testing by the Home Office to enable detected offenders to be taken to court for prosecution direct from the digital image captured by the cameras. Other cameras are not type approved and therefore offenders detected by other cameras would not be subject to prosecution.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Subsidies

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will re-examine the position of commoners associations as the vehicle for making single farm payments to those who graze on commons; and which cases of such payments have been suspended.

Barry Gardiner: A number of claims have been submitted under the single payment scheme by commoners associations and those that the Rural Payments Agency have confirmed meet the scheme eligibility criteria have been allocated entitlements and received associated payments. The eligibility status of remaining claims is being considered on a case-by-case basis with the commoners associations concerned.

Agriculture: Subsidies

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which farm payment deadlines missed by the UK in 2003-04 led to the European Commission's recovery of 53.7 million euros; and from which budget he expects funds recovered to be paid.

Barry Gardiner: This sum represents the deductions made to UK re-imbursements in the 2004 EU financial year in respect of mainly bovine direct aid payments relating to earlier scheme years. While the relevant Commission decision has only recently been published, the deductions were applied at the time and there will be no further impact on the UK Exchequer in relation to them.

Agriculture: Subsidies

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which EU member state was subject to the greatest financial correction as a result of non-respect of payment deadlines in 2003-04.

Barry Gardiner: On the basis of decisions published to date, the UK.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what percentage of claimants in  (a) Torridge and West Devon and  (b) the south-west for the single farm payment scheme in (i) 2005 and (ii) 2006 have been paid their payments (A) in full and (B) in part.

Barry Gardiner: As of 6 June 2007, a total of 104,618 farmers in England have received either a full or partial payment under the 2006 single payment scheme year. This total includes 98,750 full and 5,868 partial payments. This represents 96 per cent. of the estimated total claimant population of 109,000.
	RPA's target is to pay 96.14 per cent. of the total value of the fund by 30 June 2007.
	Detailed analysis of all the payments made under the single payment scheme is not yet available. Once the remaining scheme payments have been completed, a decision will be taken on the level of detail that will be published.

Carbon Emissions

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what rate of change in carbon dioxide emissions was recorded in  (a) the EU and  (b) the US in 2006.

Ian Pearson: In 2005, the latest year for which information is available, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the EU-15 were 0.9 per cent higher than 1990 levels, although total emissions of all greenhouse gases decreased by 4.0 per cent. Emissions data to 2005 for the EU-27 are not yet available, although statistics for the EU-25 show that net CO2 emissions decreased by 2.4 per cent. between 1990 and 2004.
	CO2 emissions in the US in 2005 were 20 per cent. above 1990 levels and total emissions of all greenhouse gases were 16 per cent. above 1990 emissions.
	Between 2004 and 2005 CO2 emissions in the EU-15 decreased by 1.2 per cent., while CO2 emissions in the US increased by 0.4 per cent.

Carbon Emissions

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the percentage change in carbon dioxide emissions by the Government was over the course of 2006.

Ian Pearson: Energy data compiled for the Sustainable Development Commission's Sustainable Development in Government Annual Report 2006 show that there was a 2.3 per cent. reduction (after correcting for weather variations) in annual carbon emissions from Government buildings during the period April 2005 and March 2006.
	Figures for the financial year to March 2007 are currently being compiled and will be published by the Sustainable Development Commission later this year.

Crops: EC Law

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the compatibility of his Department's proposals on the coexistence of GM, conventional and organic crops with European law.

Ian Pearson: We are confident that our coexistence proposals are consistent with EU law.

Crops: EC Law

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will place in the Library the  (a) name of the consent holder,  (b) crop trailed, (c) location of the test sites based on six figure map references,  (d) conditions placed on the consent and  (e) post release assessments reports for each of the part B experimental consents 94/R20/1, 98/R28/2, 00/R20/4 and 00/R20/5 issued under EC Directive 90/220.

Ian Pearson: I have arranged for the information requested to be placed in the House Library.

EC Environmental Policy

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the inclusion of Ministers from the devolved Administrations in  (a) Northern Ireland,  (b) Scotland and  (c) Wales in the United Kingdom delegation at future EU ministerial negotiations on (i) fisheries, (ii) agriculture and (iii) environmental policy.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 4 June 2007
	 As specified in the memorandum of understanding between the UK Government and the devolved Administrations, decisions on ministerial attendance at EU Council meetings will be taken on a case-by-case basis by the lead UK Minister. In reaching decisions on the composition of the UK team, the lead Minister will take into account the extent to which substantive discussion is expected of matters likely to have a significant impact on devolved responsibilities.

Environmental Stewardship Scheme

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for the higher level stewardship scheme were  (a) made and  (b) granted in each Government region in (i) 2005-06 and (ii) 2006-07.

Barry Gardiner: The following table shows the number of higher level stewardship applications received and granted in each of Natural England's regions in 2005-06.
	
		
			  Region  Received  Granted 
			 East 69 56 
			 East Midlands 38 30 
			 North-east 51 48 
			 North-west 137 119 
			 South-east 116 92 
			 South-west 235 182 
			 West Midlands 225 202 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 57 46 
		
	
	In 2006-07, the number of higher level stewardship applications received and granted in each of Natural England's regions were as follows:
	
		
			  Region  Received  Granted 
			 East 236 127 
			 East Midlands 194 108 
			 London 6 3 
			 North-east 127 59 
			 North-west 161 71 
			 South-east 253 166 
			 South-west 376 128 
			 West Midlands 206 94 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 154 78

Environmental Stewardship Scheme

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the  (a) highest,  (b) lowest and  (c) average value of award made under the higher level stewardship scheme was in each government region in (i) 2005-06 and (ii) 2006-07.

Barry Gardiner: For 2005-06, the highest, lowest and average value of annual payments made under higher level stewardship in each of Natural England's regions are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  £ 
			  Region  Highest  Lowest  Average 
			 East 127,583.97 6,547.83 33,306.46 
			 East Midlands 66,466.32 4,228.90 20,160.76 
			 North-east 300,583.13 2,609.15 32,763.34 
			 North-west 21,465.80 6,18.75 7,560.48 
			 South-east 80,918.61 3,276.83 19,164.00 
			 South-west 83,731,58 826.95 13,271.12 
			 West Midlands 83,878.21 800.00 14,018.73 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 29,616.27 1,185.95 10,752.87 
		
	
	For 2006-07, the highest, lowest and average value of annual payments made under higher level stewardship in each of Natural England's regions were as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			  Region  Highest  Lowest  Average 
			 East 328,689.74 310.80 28,439.21 
			 East Midlands 82,815.17 1,444.62 20,472.84 
			 London 48,982.08 14,936.00 31,959.00 
			 North-east 88,793.15 1,730.91 20,896.62 
			 North-west 109,956.40 1,212.23 13,326.24 
			 South-east 315,214.00 748.58 22,125.65 
			 South-west 183,576.75 284.32 17,439.23 
			 West Midlands 81,849.61 480.00 14,646.17 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 101,078.80 1,326.77 14,865.21

Floods: Databases

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what proportion of the recent pilot mailings by the Environment Agency to households and businesses about the Floodline Warnings Direct service was sent to households or businesses which are not above the threshold level of flood risk;
	(2)  what the threshold level of flood risk is above which households and businesses are included in the Floodline Warnings Direct database;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of households and businesses excluded from the Floodline Warnings Direct database in error which are above the threshold level of risk from floods;
	(4)  what estimate he has made of the number of households and businesses included in the Floodline Warnings Direct database in error which are below the threshold level of flood risk.

Ian Pearson: The Environment Agency (EA) incorrectly sent a letter about Floodline Warnings Direct to 50 households at moderate flood risk. This represents 0.1 per cent. of the recent Floodline Warnings Direct recruitment mailings that the EA has sent to households across England. The EA have confirmed this as an error isolated to Congresbury, North Somerset and has contacted the 50 householders concerned to apologise.
	The EA takes into consideration the source, the risk and the impact of flooding on a community when evaluating where it provides a flood warning service and the method by which flood warnings are communicated to the public.
	The EA offers Floodline Warnings Direct to those households and businesses with a high risk of flooding. We define high risk as flooding at, or greater than, the 1 in 100 year return period (1 per cent. probability of occurring in any year) for flooding from rivers and the 1 in 200 year return period (0.5 per cent. probability) for flooding from the sea.
	However, in some locations the EA has offered the Floodline Warnings Direct service to households and businesses up to the Extreme Flood Outline which represents the 1 in 1,000 year flood (0.1 per cent. probability) due to the predicted impacts of flooding on the community.
	The EA does not offer the flood warning service to properties outside the Extreme Flood Outline. Therefore, the EA has not excluded any households or businesses in error from Floodline Warnings Direct which are above the threshold level of risk from flooding.
	In March 2007, the EA mailed 9,166 of the 195,000 properties registered with Floodline Warnings Direct in England who no longer require warnings as they are not within the Extreme Flood Outline. The EA has not included these 9,166 properties in Floodline Warnings Direct in error as since the properties were included their level of flood risk has been updated with more accurate information.

Gardens: Heating

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will estimate the  (a) carbon dioxide and  (b) greenhouse gas emissions created by outdoor patio heaters in (i) the most recent year for which information is available and (ii) the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement on the expected effect on the (A) use of and (B) volume of emissions from outdoor patio heaters resulting from changes to legislation related to smoking in public places from 1st July 2007.

Ian Pearson: Currently, only limited information is available about the number of outdoor patio heaters in use in the UK.
	The market transformation programme (MTP) estimates that the number of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) patio heaters is around 630,000 in the domestic sector and between 3,000 and 12,500 in the hospitality sector (pubs, restaurants and hotels). This does not include electric outdoor heating appliances, however, which appear to be gaining market share.
	The LPG Association has provided sales figures for LPG supplied in cylinders sized for outdoor heating appliances each year. From the association's 2005 figures, the MTP estimates that annual carbon dioxide emissions from patio heaters in the UK are around 22.2 thousand tonnes. No information on other greenhouse gas emissions from outdoor patio heaters is available.
	The MTP estimates are not derived from surveys or detailed research, and should not be interpreted as accurate data on energy consumption and carbon emissions. Information about emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases is not available for future years.
	There is currently no information available on the expected effect on the use and volume of emissions from patio heaters resulting from changes to legislation related to smoking in public places from 1 July 2007. However, the MTP is currently updating its briefing note 'Outdoor Heating for Comfort' to look at the possible impacts of the smoking ban on UK carbon dioxide emissions. This is available on the MTP website.
	This updates the information I gave in my answer to the hon. Member for South Derbyshire (Mr. Todd) on 14 May 2007,  Official Report, column 474W.

GMOs: Crops

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to what use the residues produced by the processing of BASF's GM starch altered potato (EU marketing application EH92-527-1) will be put.

Ian Pearson: No consent to cultivate or market this potato product has yet been granted. However, the conditions of the draft Commission decision on it require BASF to include a label informing operators and final users that products containing or consisting of potato tubers of line EH92-527-1 cannot be used for human or animal consumption. The draft decision also states that material should be exclusively used for industrial purposes or destroyed.

Hill Farming

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average age is of a hill farmer in England; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: In 2005, the average (median) age of a holder in a less favoured area in England was 58 years. This excludes holdings where the holder is a legal entity, as well as group holdings where there is no single holder.

Japanese Knotweed

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to define standards for eradication of Japanese knotweed; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: DEFRA partially funded, and fully supports, the guidance set out in the Environment Agency's "Knotweed Code of Practice: Managing Japanese Knotweed on Development Sites", which was published in September 2006. This sets out advice on how to deal with Japanese knotweed to an acceptable standard of effectiveness. It also advises on relevant pesticide, environmental protection and controlled waste legislation and the offence under section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 of planting or causing Japanese knotweed to grow in the wild.
	The Secretary of State may approve any code of practice relating to species covered by section 14 of the 1981 Act. Any such code is then admissible in any court proceedings and must be taken into account by a court in any case in which it is deemed to be relevant. The Japanese knotweed code is one that we will be considering for such approval.

National Parks: South Downs

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to make an announcement on a National Park covering the South Downs.

Barry Gardiner: DEFRA will shortly be inviting further representations on matters that were not able to be addressed by the South Downs Inquiry. In the light of responses received, Ministers will consider whether it is appropriate for the inquiry to be re-opened. If the inquiry is re-opened, an announcement on the decision whether to create a South Downs National Park is expected no later than autumn 2008. If it is not re-opened, an announcement early in 2008 will be possible.

Waste Management

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many civil servants are working on policy on aerobic composting, broken down by grade; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: No DEFRA officials work exclusively on aerobic composting. However, a number of officials in the Waste Strategy, Waste Management, Air and Environment Quality, Waste Implementation Programme, and Endemic Diseases divisions work on issues relating to aerobic composting. These issues include policy and targets, the regulatory system for the composting process and its outputs, the demonstration of new composting technologies and animal by-product processing.

SCOTLAND

Employment

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the employment levels were in Scotland in each of the last four years; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: In the final quarter of the last four years the employment levels in Scotland were:
	2.39 million in 2003;
	2.45 million in 2004;
	2.46 million in 2005; and
	2.50 million in 2006.

Employment

Jim Devine: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the most recent figures for overall employment levels in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: In the first quarter of 2007 the employment level in Scotland stood at 2.53 million. This marks a record high for the number of people employed.

Business Environment

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps the Government are taking to ensure a long-term stable environment for Scottish business.

Douglas Alexander: The Scottish economy continues to benefit from the domestic stability delivered by the UK Government's strong macroeconomic framework, which has delivered sustained growth, low interest rates and stable inflation. This Government have facilitated the strongest Scottish labour market in decades with employment and unemployment around their historically best positions.

Civil Service Jobs

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on numbers of civil service jobs in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: I have regular discussions with my right hon. Friend on a range of issues.

Broadcasting

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with Scottish Ministers on the further devolution of broadcasting powers.

David Cairns: Parliament decided in the Scotland Act 1998 that broadcasting should be a reserved issue and there are no plans to change that.

Carbon Capture: Peterhead Project

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the future of the Peterhead carbon capture project.

Douglas Alexander: I discuss a wide range of subjects with ministerial colleagues on a regular basis.

Research and Development

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent estimate he has made of the number of research and development projects being undertaken in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office does not compile such estimates but I note that a survey for IBM last autumn showed Scotland's success in attracting 19 per cent. of all UK research and development projects in the UK—well above our population share.

Absent Voting

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will conduct an investigation into the postal ballot delays for the Scottish elections on 3 May.

David Cairns: holding answer 8 May 2007
	The Electoral Commission has appointed Mr. Ron Gould to lead the statutory review of the May elections. The Electoral Commission published the terms of reference of this review on 21 May, confirming that Mr. Gould will consider the arrangements for postal voting.

Absent Voting

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what his estimate is of the number of voters in Scotland who will be unable to cast their vote for the Scottish Parliamentary and local government elections as a result of the delay in sending out the postal ballots; and if he will make a statement.

David Cairns: holding answer 8 May 2007
	This information is not available because there is no way of knowing, from those who do not return their postal votes, how many simply chose not to return their ballot papers and how many were not able to return them for practical reasons, for example, being on holiday. I understand that the majority of postal votes were received by voters a week before polling day, or even earlier.

Devolution: Co-operation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of processes in place to facilitate co-operation between the Scottish Executive and the Government.

Douglas Alexander: A memorandum of understanding sets out the over-arching principles that underpin relations between the UK Government and the devolved Administrations. The Government have no plans to revise this memorandum of understanding.

Drugs: Misuse

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what measures are being taken to combat illegal drug use in Scotland.

David Cairns: Operational responsibility for tackling illegal drug use in Scotland is devolved and is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive.

Elections

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on what dates in  (a) 2006 and  (b) 2007 (i) Ministers and (ii) officials in his Department had meetings regarding the running of the Scottish elections on 3 May 2007.

David Cairns: holding answer 8 May 2007
	Scotland Office Ministers and officials had meetings every month since January 2006 about the Scottish Parliament elections on 3 May 2007. Ministers had 13 meetings and officials had 158.

Elections: Ballot Papers

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what role  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials in his Department played in the negotiation of the contracts with private companies to carry out the printing, collating and distribution of postal ballot papers for the elections in Scotland on 3 May.

David Cairns: holding answer 8 May 2007
	The responsibility for handling postal ballot papers rests with Returning Officers. The printing of postal ballot papers formed part of the contract to deliver an electronic counting service. This contract was negotiated through an electronic counting project board, consisting of representatives of Returning Officers, Scottish Executive and Scotland Office officials, and DRS. Decisions relating to the e-counting contract with DRS were taken by the electronic counting project board. The collation and distribution of postal ballot papers for the elections were handled through separate, individual, contracts between the Returning Officer and their suppliers.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Council Tax Benefit: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Warrington are in receipt of council tax benefit, broken down by ward of resident; and what the average award made was in 2006-07.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested. Information for council tax benefit is not available at ward level.
	As at November 2006, the most recent available information, there were 13,770 households in receipt of council tax benefit in the Warrington borough council area; the average weekly amount of council tax benefit was £12.71.

Council Tax Benefits: Reform

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the Government's timetable is for reform of council tax benefit further to the recommendations of Sir Michael Lyons.

James Plaskitt: There is a great deal for the Government to consider, arising from Sir Michael Lyons report, much of it identified as being for the longer term.
	We already have in place more accessible council tax benefit arrangements for pension credit customers, and we are considering whether these can be further improved.
	In the longer term, we want to ensure that council tax benefit is delivered as accessibly, simply and securely as possible. We intend to carry out more research into the feasibility of using data held across Government Departments in order to build up profiles of people likely to be entitled. We also intend to develop the concept of a "single point of contact" for pensioners for access to their benefits, coupled with alignment of application processes. This would produce a better public service as well as greater efficiency.
	We will consider, in our research, the impact on fraud and error and issues of practicality and affordability, alongside priorities for the tax and benefits system as a whole. We will also consider the relative merits of piloting any changes and rolling them out nationally.

Council Tax Benefits: Scotland

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on the provision of council tax benefit in Scotland.

James Plaskitt: Council tax benefit is a national benefit and we have no plans to change this.

Departments: Advertising

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which  (a) advertising agencies and  (b) other organisations supplied consultancy services for advertising campaigns for (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies in each of the last five years; and what the cost of these services was.

Anne McGuire: The Department buys advertising through the Central Office of Information (COI). Under the terms of COI framework agreements, advertising agencies are contracted to supply advertising services only. Advertising agencies on COI's roster do not supply broader consultancy services. On occasion wider ranging consultancy projects may inform campaign work, but the costs would not be attributed to the campaign.
	Where consultancy is provided by other organisations it usually results in a range of communication activities which may or may not include advertising; it is not possible to distinguish the cost of providing consultancy for advertising from that for other forms of communication.

Departments: Advertising

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much revenue his Department received from advertisements on his Department's  (a) public information leaflets and  (b) public websites in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions has not received any revenue, over the last 10 years, from either  (a) public information leaflets or  (b) public websites.

Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisors

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of his Department's special advisers were on  (a) paid and  (b) unpaid leave in order to assist with party political matters under section 22 (iii) of the code of conduct for special advisers on 16 May 2007; and how many days' leave each adviser was granted.

Anne McGuire: Special advisers' involvement in party political matters is conducted in accordance with the requirements of the code of conduct for special advisers, including section 22(iii), and the guidance issued by the Cabinet Secretary in December 2006 and May 2007, copies of which are in the Libraries of the House.

Flexible Working

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress his Department has made in extending the right to request flexible working arrangements to cover care of older children further to the consultation strategy published in February 2005.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
	The responses to the Work and Families consultation in February 2005 showed that carers should be the priority group in any extension of the right to request flexible working. As a result we extended the right to 2.65 million carers of adults in April. We are currently keeping the law under review.

Housing Benefit

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on housing benefit in each year since 1997; and what percentage of the non-pension welfare budget was spent on housing benefit in each year.

James Plaskitt: For details of housing benefit expenditure, I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field) on 21 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1160W. Information on the proportion of the non-pension welfare budget spent on housing benefit is in the following table.
	
		
			  Proportion of the non-pension welfare budget spent on housing benefit: Great Britain 
			   Percentage 
			 1997-98 14.8 
			 1998-99 14.3 
			 1999-2000 14.0 
			 2000-01 13.9 
			 2001-02 13.7 
			 2002-03 14.9 
			 2003-04 17.3 
			 2004-05 18.5 
			 2005-06 19.7 
			 2006-07 20.1 
			 2007-08 20.5 
			  Note: These figures are not comparable over time due to changes in the benefit system. For example, the transfer of child elements from benefits to tax credits.  Source: DWP expenditure tables

Housing Benefit: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claims for housing benefit were dealt with by Warrington borough council in each of the last five years; and what the average award was in the most recent period for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Housing benefit (HB) claims in Warrington borough council 
			   Number of HB claims 
			 2002-03 5,014 
			 2003-04 n/a 
			 2004-05 3,469 
			 2005-06 4,124 
			 2006-07 2,940 
			 n/a = Not available  Notes: 1. Figures are for financial years. 2. For 2006-07 the data are from April to December 2006. As at November 2006, the average weekly amount of housing benefit in Warrington borough council was £58.21. 
		
	
	Performance management information returned by local authorities to the Department is published on the Housing Benefit Operational Database (HoBOD). HoBOD can be accessed using the following link:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hobod

Housing Benefit: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken by Warrington borough council to process a claim for housing benefit was in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what the average time was in comparable local authorities.

James Plaskitt: The average time taken by Warrington Borough Council to process a claim for housing benefit up to 31 December 2006 is 25 days. For the same period the national average time for local authorities to process a housing benefit claim is 34 days.
	Performance management information returned by local authorities to the Department is published on the Housing Benefit Operational Database (HoBOD). HoBOD can be accessed using the following link:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hobod

Income Support: Lone Parents

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many lone parents  (a) claiming income support and  (b) who had been claiming income support for longer than five years had children aged (i) under three years, (ii) under five years, (iii) between five and 11 years, (iv) between three and 11 years and (v) over 11 years in each month since January 1992.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 23 May 2007
	The information is not available in the format requested. Because of changes in methodology comparable figures are not available prior to 1999. The available information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Number of lone parents receiving income support, by youngest child's age, in Great Britain at quarters shown 
			  Quarter ending  With a youngest child under three  With a youngest child under five  With a youngest child aged between three and 11  With a youngest child aged between five and 11  With a youngest child aged over 11 
			  1999  
			 August 305,830 469,050 522,980 359,760 116,250 
			 November 298,940 460,910 515,690 353,730 115,610 
			   
			  2000  
			 February 294,940 456,240 511,950 350,660 116,580 
			 May 291,960 453,320 510,170 348,800 117,310 
			 August 289,280 451,520 512,550 350,310 118,270 
			 November 285,110 444,500 503,820 344,430 116,830 
			   
			  2001  
			 February 287,060 446,500 503,260 343,820 117,890 
			 May 283,160 442,120 499,800 340,830 117,470 
			 August 283,540 441 ,860 499,930 341,620 116,740 
			 November 273,530 427,400 489,700 335,830 115,360 
			   
			  2002  
			 February 272,980 425,200 487,740 335,520 116,400 
			 November 265,740 412,690 475,400 328,450 115,090 
			   
			  2003  
			 February 263,620 408,350 470,050 325,330 115,170 
			 May 267,030 413,730 473,670 326,970 115,100 
			 August 265,300 411 ,280 472,640 326,650 113,790 
			 November 259,150 401,220 459,880 317,810 112,720 
			   
			  2004  
			 February 258,130 400,270 458,930 316,790 113,200 
			 May 257,130 397,750 453,550 312,930 112,600 
			 August 254,220 394,000 452,200 312,420 111,680 
			 November 247,360 383,050 439,000 303,320 110,160 
			   
			  2005  
			 February 246,090 380,690 436,600 302,000 110,440 
			 May 246,390 379,540 433,250 300,090 109,690 
			 August 243,880 377,270 435,250 301,860 110,220 
			 November 242,220 373,090 427,320 296,450 109,050 
			   
			  2006  
			 February 240,600 372,030 427,610 296,170 108,890 
			 May 240,660 371,970 426,100 294,800 108,100 
			 August 241,170 374,930 433,070 299,300 108,950 
			 November 240,990 373,010 426,500 294,470 108,130 
			  Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: DWP Information Directorate 100 per cent. WPLS 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of lone parents receiving income support for five years or more, by youngest child's age, in Great Britain at quarters shown 
			  Quarter ending  With a youngest child under three  With a youngest child under five  With a youngest child aged between three and 11  With a youngest child aged between five and 11  With a youngest child aged over 11 
			  1999  
			 August 50,750 93,940 205,750 162,560 60,180 
			 November 49,300 92,670 204,530 161,160 60,420 
			   
			  2000  
			 February 48,280 91,680 204,230 160,820 61,230 
			 May 47,480 90,640 203,860 160,700 61,930 
			 August 46,750 89,890 204,050 160,920 62,500 
			 November 45,840 88,310 201,700 159,230 61 ,980 
			   
			 2001  
			 February 45,700 87,460 200,540 158,790 62,320 
			 May 44,860 85,920 199,070 158,010 62,290 
			 August 44,740 85,050 198,260 157,960 61,870 
			 November 43,060 81 ,540 195,900 157,410 61,620 
			   
			  2002  
			 February 43,050 80,410 195,180 157,810 62,140 
			 May 42,580 79,440 194,600 157,740 61,980 
			 August 42,840 79,870 195,920 158,890 62,160 
			 November 42,700 79,280 193,820 157,240 62,230 
			   
			  2003  
			 February 42,580 79,230 194,260 157,620 62,920 
			 May 42,790 79,420 193,700 157,070 62,610 
			 August 43,210 80,210 193,710 156,720 61,950 
			 November 43,130 79,660 191,900 155,370 62,370 
			   
			  2004  
			 February 43,260 80,170 192,410 155,500 62,880 
			 May 43,810 80,670 191,810 154,950 63,230 
			 August 43,850 80,670 192,050 155,220 63,150 
			 November 43,330 79,230 188,980 153,090 63,120 
			   
			  2005  
			 February 42,930 78,300 187,710 152,340 63,190 
			 May 43,130 78,480 187,430 152,090 63,110 
			 August 42,560 78,040 188,230 152,750 63,470 
			 November 42,520 77,850 186,890 151,550 63,270 
			   
			  2006  
			 February 41,900 77,170 186,650 151,380 63,170 
			 May 41,770 77,060 186,330 151,040 62,890 
			 August 41,000 76,660 187,130 151,470 63,190 
			 November 40,800 76,220 185,330 149,910 62,870 
			  Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: DWP Information Directorate 100 per cent. WPLS

International Labour Organisation

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which Ministers attended the International Labour Organisation's annual conference in each year since 2000.

Anne McGuire: The following Ministers have attended the International Labour Organisation's annual conference since 2000:
	Right hon. Tessa Jowell 2000 and 2001;
	Malcolm Wicks 2002;
	Maria Eagle 2003;
	Chris Pond 2004; and
	James Plaskitt 2005, 2006, and 2007.

New Deal for Disabled People

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many participants in the new deal for disabled people left the scheme for sustainable employment in each month since it was initiated.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 18 May 2007
	Up to the end of November 2006, new deal for disabled people (NDDP) had been successful in helping 134,160 people into work, including 101,720 people who had registered with, and received assistance from, an NDDP job broker.
	Information on job sustainability is available to March 2006. Of the 78,970 people who had gained a job through a job broker to March 2006, 54,090 had gained a sustained job.
	A new deal for disabled people (NDDP) job is regarded as sustained when a person who has been placed into work through an NDDP job broker remains in work for 13 out of 39 weeks. Prior to October 2003, an NDDP job was regarded as sustained when a person, placed into work through an NDDP job broker, remained in work for 26 out of 39 weeks.
	Information on those who are recorded as leaving NDDP with an immediate destination of employment, which was also recorded as a sustained job, is in the following table.
	
		
			  New deal for disabled people (NDDP) 
			  Month  Number of leavers with a recorded immediate destination of sustained employment 
			 January 2002 20 
			 February 2002 60 
			 March 2002 130 
			 April 2002 170 
			 May 2002 210 
			 June 2002 150 
			 July 2002 140 
			 August 2002 190 
			 September 2002 250 
			 October 2002 240 
			 November 2002 350 
			 December 2002 300 
			 January 2003 470 
			 February 2003 340 
			 March 2003 460 
			 April 2003 430 
			 May 2003 800 
			 June 2003 500 
			 July 2003 400 
			 August 2003 590 
			 September 2003 520 
			 October 2003 1,260 
			 November 2003 1,020 
			 December 2003 850 
			 January 2004 1,180 
			 February 2004 1,170 
			 March 2004 1,160 
			 April 2004 1,090 
			 May 2004 950 
			 June 2004 1,140 
			 July 2004 1,490 
			 August 2004 1,350 
			 September 2004 1,210 
			 October 2004 2,030 
			 November 2004 1,450 
			 December 2004 1,610 
			 January 2005 1,930 
			 February 2005 1,960 
			 March 2005 1,640 
			 April 2005 1,610 
			 May 2005 1,510 
			 June 2005 1,750 
			 July 2005 2,140 
			 August 2005 1,670 
			 September 2005 2,120 
			 October 2005 1,680 
			 November 2005 1,630 
			 December 2005 1,880 
			 January 2006 2,010 
			 February 2006 2,100 
			 March 2006 2,240 
			  Notes: 1. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Separate data on whether a job is sustained through NDDP are not collected centrally after March 2006. 3. The new deal for disabled people programme was introduced in July 2001.  Source: Information Directorate, Department for Work and Pensions

Remploy: Closures

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria were used to determine whether a Remploy factory would be eligible for  (a) closure and  (b) merger.

Anne McGuire: In deciding eligibility for potential closure Remploy took into account several factors: the market for the product made at the factory, the likely ability to achieve acceptable losses per disabled employee in the future, the percentage of cost which is covered by income from customers and the local employment market.
	For mergers the company not only took into account the above factors, but also considered the proximity to another factory which was not potentially closing.
	We will consider the company's final proposals once they have been submitted later in the year following consultation. No decision by the Secretary of State on the future of the company will take place until then and the Government encourage participation in the consultation process by contacting Bob Warner on tel: 02476 515810 or writing to him at: Remploy, Stonecourt, Siskin Drive, Coventry, CV3 4FJ.

Remploy: Closures

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what representations were made by  (a) management and  (b) staff regarding the possible closure of the Remploy factory in Hartlepool;
	(2)  what consideration was given to merging the Hartlepool and Stockton Remploy factories as an alternative to closure.

Anne McGuire: In drawing up the closure proposals Remploy took into account the market for the product made at their factories, their likely ability to achieve acceptable losses per disabled employee in the future, the percentage of its cost which is covered by income from its customers and the local employment market. The proximity to another factory which was not closing was considered.
	The Remploy Board's proposals signal the next phase in the development of a five-year modernisation plan—a formal consultation with trade unions and employees and a disability impact assessment as part of Remploy's Disability Equality Duty obligations.
	The Government will consider the company's final proposals once they have been submitted later in the year following consultation. No decisions by the Secretary of State on the future of the company will take place until then.
	No representations have been made to Government on the proposed closure of the Hartlepool factory. If there are strong arguments against the proposed closure of the Hartlepool factory, the Board of Remploy would be happy to fully consider them.
	The Government encourage participation in the consultation process by contacting Bob Warner Chief Executive of Remploy on tel: 02476 515810 or in writing at: Remploy, Stonecourt, Siskin Drive, Coventry, CV3 4FJ.

Social Security Benefits: Disabled

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans his Department has for simplifying the benefits system for people with disabilities.

James Plaskitt: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) on 27 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1208W.

Social Security Benefits: Payments

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many days in advance of payment to claimants of  (a) income support,  (b) jobseeker's allowance,  (c) disability living allowance and  (d) pension credit his Department transfers funds to banks.

James Plaskitt: Funds for the payment of DWP benefits and allowances are transferred to banks on day three of the BACS processing cycle. This is normally the same day that payment is credited to the claimant's bank account.

Winter Fuel Payments

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the implications of changes in energy prices for the level of the winter fuel allowance.

James Purnell: The winter fuel payment is a significant contribution to winter fuel bills which account for around 60 per cent. of the year's total fuel bill. It has risen from £20 to £200 from winter 2000-01 and to £300 for people aged 80 or over from winter 2003-04.
	Fuel prices are volatile, and can fall as well as rise. Although fuel prices have risen since 2003 this follows a period of no change between 1997 and 2003, and following recent falls in wholesale gas prices, companies are now starting to announce reductions in retail prices. It would not be sensible for the rate of winter fuel payments to track the upward and downward movement of fuel prices.

DEFENCE

Air Force: Manpower

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is for ensuring that there are sufficient numbers of pilots qualified and able to serve as fast jet pilots; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: There is a robust process to establish and sustain the requirement for pilots qualified and able to serve as fast jet pilots. The process for the RAF is undertaken by RAF manpower planners who compare the forecast requirement for fast jet pilots against the forecast strength. Any anticipated gap is then adjusted by modifying the forecast number of fast jet pilots required to graduate from the operational conversion unit as necessary. The RN process is very similar. The process helps to predict manning trends such as premature voluntary release, medical discharge, promotion and normal retirement.

Armed Conflict: Journalism

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what  (a) correspondence and  (b) discussions his Department has had with (i) European partners and (ii) others to seek the earliest possible compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1738 on the protection of journalists reporting on armed conflict; and if he will make a statement

Adam Ingram: Her Majesty's Government strongly support UNSCR 1738. We acknowledge the importance of ensuring that journalists, media professionals and associated personnel are provided with the protection they need.
	The MOD already affords journalists the same protection rights as civilians in conflict areas, providing they do not take action adversely affecting their status, in accordance with article 79 of additional protocol 1 of the Geneva conventions. To assist the process of ensuring that international law is respected and enforced, and to raise awareness of violence directed against journalists in conflict zones, the UK tabled UNSCR 1738 jointly with our EU partners in December 2006. This called on parties involved in conflict to stop deliberate attacks against journalists and respect them as civilians under international law.
	While we have had no recent correspondence with our EU partners about resolution 1738, we continue to work with them and others to support efforts to promote and strengthen respect for international law.

Armed Conflict: Journalism

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what  (a) correspondence and  (b) discussions his officials have had with (i) NATO partners and (ii) others (A) on respect for the professional independence and rights of journalists, media professionals and associated personnel during armed conflict and (B) to obtain universal compliance with obligations under international law to end impunity and prosecute those responsible for serious violations of international law against such persons; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Her Majesty's Government are committed to promoting freedom of expression worldwide and to defending and protecting the professional independence and right of journalists and media professionals to work without fear of reprisal during armed conflict. Although we have had no recent correspondence on these matters with NATO partners or others, we work with them and others to support efforts to promote and strengthen international law. An essential part of this is our strong support for the international criminal tribunals which are a key element of international efforts to combat the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.

Armed Conflict: Journalism

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures have been introduced by his Department to ensure the UK's compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1738, on the protection of journalists in armed conflict; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: UK armed forces protect journalists in the same way they protect civilians in theatre, provided they do not take action adversely affecting their status under international law. This is enshrined in our instructions on the practical arrangements for enabling correspondents to report from operational theatres and in the training provided to our personnel.

Armed Forces: Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the British Government provide pensions to any Burmese soldiers who fought alongside the British in the second world war.

Derek Twigg: The British Government no longer provide pensions to Burmese soldiers who fought alongside the British forces in the second world war. Responsibility for the payment of these pensions was transferred to the Government of Burma in 1947, ahead of Burma gaining independence in January 1948.

Armed Forces: Deployment

Christopher Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average tour interval was for  (a) Army,  (b) Royal Navy,  (c) Royal Air Force and  (d) Royal Marine personnel in the latest period for which figures are available.

Adam Ingram: The average tour interval for land units is 26.5 months.
	
		
			  Arms and services tour intervals—February 2007 
			   Infantry  Royal Armoured Corps  Royal Artillery  Royal Engineers  Royal Signals  Royal Logistic Corps 
			 Tour interval (months) 24.7 39.1 22.4 19.7 25.4 28.0 
			 Tour interval (average) 26.5 months 
		
	
	For Royal Navy personnel, deployments are not to be longer than nine months. A ship's programme aims for 60 per cent. of the time on deployment and 40 per cent. of the time alongside at the base port over a two-year rolling period. Current activity for surface ships is approximately 53 per cent. away, 47 per cent. at home.
	Tour intervals for the Royal Marines in 3 Commando Brigade RM varies between units but on average is 34 months, although this does not reflect individual company deployments which have been more frequent.
	Data on RAF average tour intervals are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Housing

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the  (a) longest,  (b) shortest and  (c) average period of time was taken to make repairs to a forces' accommodation property after a call out in the last period for which figures are available.

Derek Twigg: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Armed Forces: Housing

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff were employed at the Modern Housing Solutions helpdesk in Speke, Liverpool in each month since it was established.

Derek Twigg: The information requested is set out in the following table:
	
		
			   Number employed 
			  2005  
			 July 1.0 
			 August 2.0 
			 September 2.0 
			 October 2.0 
			 November 2.0 
			 December 19.0 
			   
			  2006  
			 January 63.0 
			 February 68.5 
			 March 63.0 
			 April 85.0 
			 May 85.0 
			 June 98.5 
			 July 100.5 
			 August 113.0 
			 September 122.0 
			 October 114.0 
			 November 102.5 
			 December 113.0 
			   
			  2007  
			 January 108.0 
			 February 106.0 
			 March 99.0 
			 April 101.0 
			 May 86.5 
		
	
	There was no specific "go-live" date for the helpdesk. The contract was dated 14 November 2005 and was rolled out on a regional basis from January 2006. Modern Housing Solutions built up the helpdesk during that period. Staff were in place before the contract was signed as MHS knew from April 2005 that it was the preferred bidder.
	When MHS began delivering services, the number of calls received was higher than anticipated, requiring additional staff to be employed on the helpdesk. Over time, however, the need has reduced for these additional staff, resulting in a reduction in staff between April and May 2007.

Armed Forces: Pay

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Army personnel were mispaid in the May pay run for the Army by Joint Personnel Administration; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 4 June 2007
	169 Army personnel were mispaid during May. All of these cases related to errors in the payment of allowances and will be corrected in the June pay run.

Armed Forces: Pay

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by what amount the operational allowance will be increased for fiscal year 2007-08 to take account of the rate of inflation.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 11 June 2007
	For the financial year 2007-08, the operational allowance for Iraq and Afghanistan will increase by 3.6 per cent. and this will be backdated to 1 April 2007. The allowance is based on the tax and national insurance paid by a private soldier, lower band pay range, level 5, on his/her income and longer separation allowance, while deployed on operations. Therefore, backdated to 1 April 2007, the daily rate of operational allowance will increase from £12.31 to £12.75. Consequently during a six month tour of duty it will increase from £2,240 to £2,320. However, due to the improved security situation in the Balkans, personnel serving in this area will no longer qualify for the operational allowance from 1 September 2007.

Armed Forces: Pensions

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost of  (a) awarding retrospectively armed service pensions to all those armed service personnel who do not receive pensions and  (b) providing pensions on retirement to those service personnel who are currently not likely to be entitled to a pension.

Derek Twigg: No specific estimate has been produced regarding the cost of backdating armed forces preserved pensions before 1975. However, in view of the fact that this issue is common to other public service schemes not just the armed forces, the cost, whether to the armed forces or more widely, would be considerable and could run into billions of pounds.
	The only individuals currently serving who will not be entitled to a pension are those who do not serve the two years necessary to qualify for an armed forces pension. However, they may transfer their notional benefits out of the armed forces pension scheme into another public sector scheme.

Armed Forces: Pensions

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 23 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1289W, on the armed forces: pensions, how much it would cost to obtain the information.

Derek Twigg: There are currently in excess of 350,000 pensions in payment and, although the sums being paid can be accessed, it is not possible to tell whether the amount is in respect of a "full career pension" or a lesser period. The cost of scrutinising each file to check the length of each individual's reckonable service would be in excess of £900,000.

Armed Forces: Personal Records

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information his Department records on  (a) Service personnel and  (b) Service families.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 10 May 2007
	The Ministry of Defence records a wide range of information on Service personnel. This information is used to support effective administration of Service personnel and to inform policy on, for example, pay, allowances, accommodation, training, health care, health and safety management, and career management. Statistics on Defence personnel are published regularly by the Defence Analytical Services Agency, and these are available on their website and in the Library of the House.

Ballistic Missile Defence

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with his United States counterpart on the deployment of missile defence systems in Europe.

Des Browne: It is not the practice of the Government to make public details of all discussions with foreign Governments as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice international relations. The position on missile defence in Europe is as set out in my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's reply of 4 June 2007,  Official Report, column 237W, to the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks (Mr. Hague).

Departments: Advertising

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which  (a) advertising agencies and  (b) other organisations supplied consultancy services for advertising campaigns for (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies in each of the last five years; and what the cost of these services was.

Derek Twigg: The only advertising undertaken by the Ministry of Defence is recruitment related.
	Armed forces recruitment advertising is bought through the Central Office of Information (COI). Under the terms of the COI framework agreements advertising agencies are contracted to supply advertising services only and not to supply broader consultancy services.
	The Royal Navy uses two advertising agencies for its recruit advertising activities, procured through the COI. These are Wright Collins Rutherford Scott, and Glue London. No additional external organisations are used to provide consultancy services.
	The Army has not bought any advertising services outside of those procured through the COI. Currently, the Army is working with Zenith Optimedia to deliver advertising campaigns.
	The Royal Air Force currently works with the advertising agency Delaney Lund Knox Warren to deliver its advertising campaigns. It has not procured any organisations to supply wider consultancy services for those campaigns.
	Information on the recruitment of civilian staff is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Ex-servicemen: Military Decorations

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many ex-servicemen and women in Somerset  (a) applied for and  (b) were subsequently issued with (i) an HM Armed Forces Veterans Badge and (ii) a UK Merchant Seafarers Badge.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 11 June 2007
	The information on Veterans Badges is not held in a format that identifies how many badges were applied for and subsequently issued; it is possible to give information only on how many are issued. I can confirm that 3,060 Veterans Badges have been issued to ex-servicemen and women in Somerset since 2004.
	Information relating to the Merchant Seafarers Badge is not held in a format that allows counties to be readily identified. However, I can confirm a total of 5,634 badges have been issued since the scheme began on 27 June 2006.

Members: Correspondence

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to reply to Question 127568, tabled by the hon. Member for North Durham on 12 March 2007.

Derek Twigg: I replied to my hon. Friend on 11 June 2007,  Official Report, column 752W.

Warships

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for how many days the Sea Dart missile system was fully operational for each of the eight remaining Type 42 destroyers in  (a) the last 12 months and  (b) 2006.

Adam Ingram: The Sea Dart missile system has a good record for reliability and effectiveness. I am withholding the detailed information as its release would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness and security of our armed forces.

TREASURY

Departments: Drama

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much it cost to run the interactive drama training sessions in each year since their introduction.

John Healey: In common with most other public and private sector organisations, the Treasury occasionally uses role-playing techniques in its training programmes, for example on teaching interview and management skills, and on improving diversity awareness. However, the costs of these elements of training programmes are not separately recorded.

Departments: Epilepsy

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people with epilepsy are employed by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: HM Treasury publishes a wide range of data on disability and diversity in its annual report and on its website (www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/about/about _disability_equality.cfm). The number of officials with epilepsy is not detailed as this could identify individual members of staff.

Departments: Meetings

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of each meeting he attended on 10 May.

John Healey: On 10 May the Chancellor attended Cabinet and then Treasury oral questions. It is not the practice of this or other administrations to release the minutes of Cabinet or other meetings.

Departments: Sexual Harassment

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many claims have been made against  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies under the Sex Discrimination Act since 1997; and what the outcome was of each such case.

John Healey: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  Department  Response  Outcome 
			 HMT None Not applicable 
			
			 Royal Mint One case Settled out of court 
			
			 DMO None Not applicable 
			
			 HMRC 69 cases The above figure includes figures for Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise prior to the establishment of HMRC. However, the 'Customs and Excise' element of these figures is for the last five years only as earlier figures are not available. Number of claims withdrawn: 26 Claims upheld: None Claims not upheld: 16 Claims settled out of court: 27 
			
			 VOA VOA is unable to provide any information earlier than 2001-02 without incurring disproportionate costs. Since 2001-02 there have been 34 cases. Claims not upheld: Five Claims settled out of court: four One case remains pending an employment tribunal hearing, and 21 further cases remain pending on the outcome of an employment tribunal on a common issue. Two pending internal investigation One pending outcome of an employment tribunal claim 
			
			 NS&I None Not applicable 
			
			 OGC None Not applicable 
			
			 ONS Two cases Cases not upheld: Two

Departments: Surveys

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library copies of his Department's employee surveys for  (a) 1998 and  (b) 1999.

John Healey: HM Treasury began employee surveys in 2002.

EC Budget: Contributions

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the United Kingdom's  (a) gross and  (b) net annual contributions to the European Union are expected to be in each of the next six years; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Balls: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) on 31 January 2006,  Official Report, columns 398-400W.
	Later calendar year estimates for the United Kingdom's contributions to the EC Budget will be published annually in the Government's "European Community Finances" White Paper. The 2007 edition of this White Paper (Cm 7090) was published on 22 May 2007.

Eligo International Limited

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the  (a) date,  (b) value and  (c) purpose was of each payment made by (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies to Eligo International Limited since 1997.

John Healey: None of the Chancellor's departments or agencies has found any records of payments to Eligo International Limited within the last five years. Changes in accounting systems mean that a positive confirmation for all bodies over the whole period since 1997 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Goodison Review

Hugo Swire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the estimated cost of implementation of the Goodison Review is, broken down by main budget headings;
	(2)  what progress his Department has made in implementing the recommendations in the Goodison Review for which his Department has responsibility; which recommendations relating to direct taxation have been implemented; and which of the recommendations in the review have yet to be implemented.

Stephen Timms: The Government implemented a number of Sir Nicholas Goodison's recommendations and continue to keep those relating to direct taxation under review.
	There are a variety of tax reliefs available to encourage private and corporate giving and the Government will, over the summer, consult with the sector on measures to increase the take up of Gift Aid, in addition to conducting an awareness raising campaign.
	The information on costs requested is not available.

Government Departments: Buildings

Colin Challen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of commercial sector buildings in the UK were occupied by the central Government estate in each of the last five years.

John Healey: Figures based on floor space data are available centrally only for 2004, 2005, and 2006 and then only for England and Wales.
	The percentage occupation from the commercial sector in each of those years is approximately as follows:
	
		
			   Percentage occupation 
			 2004 7 
			 2005 9 
			 2006 8

Government Departments: Buildings

Colin Challen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of Government estate buildings were  (a) leased and  (b) owned in each of the last five years.

John Healey: Figures are available centrally only for 2004, 2005, and 2006.
	The breakdown in percentages between freehold and leasehold Government buildings is approximately as follows:
	
		
			   2004  2005  2006 
			 Freehold 34 35 40 
			 Leasehold 26 28 29 
		
	
	The remainder of Government buildings were occupied predominantly under PFI/PPP arrangements.

HM Revenue and Customs: Correspondence

Laurence Robertson: To ask Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the time taken by the HM Revenue and Customs office in Cardiff to reply to letters from members of the public; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: There are a number of HMRC offices in Cardiff. In the main HMRC office, which deals with PAYE and self assessment customers, the vast majority of correspondence is dealt with within 20 days. The office does take longer to deal with some more complex or specialist correspondence but as of 18 May 2007 4 per cent. of correspondence only was more then 20 days old.

Lone Parents

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Office for National Statistics most recent estimate is of the number of lone parents; and how many lone parents claim tax credits.

Stephen Timms: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) use different definitions of lone parents and the statistics they produce refer to different time periods and are therefore not comparable.
	The tax and benefit system defines a couple as either a man and a woman who are either married or 'living together as husband and wife' or two people of the same sex who are either civil partners or living together as such. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) asks about the adults living in a household, and it counts an adult as being single if they do not declare another adult in the household as being their partner.
	ONS estimates that there are 1.9 million lone parents in the UK, based on the 2006 Labour Force Survey data. The HMRC 2005-06 Finalised Award data show that on average 2.1 million families claimed child tax credit, or the equivalent via benefits, as a single adult.

National Insurance Contributions

Martin Horwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the  (a) level of revenue which would be foregone were national insurance contributions classes 1 and 4 to be abolished and  (b) level to which the basic rate of income tax would need to be raised to recoup such revenue.

Edward Balls: The estimate of the total amount of class 1 (employee and employer) and class 4 (self-employed) NICs revenue that would be foregone is £95 billion for 2007-08. Individuals would have to pay basic rate income tax of 33 per cent. for 2007-08 to recoup the £40 billion of employee and self-employed NICs foregone. This estimate does not allow for any behavioural effects.

Pension Funds: Taxation

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what projection he has made of how the changes to income tax and national insurance announced in the Budget will affect the value of tax relief on pension contributions in future years.

Edward Balls: No projections have been made of how the changes to income tax and national insurance announced in the Budget will affect the value of tax relief on pension contributions in future years. Estimates of the annual cost of tax relief on approved pension schemes are publicly available. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 27 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1513W.

Planning Gain Supplement

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois) of 8 May 2007,  Official Report, column 189W, on Planning Gain Supplement, by what criteria consideration will be given as to whether Planning Gain Supplement should be deemed to be workable and effective.

John Healey: The Government stated in Budget 2006 that it would continue to assess PGS against the following objectives:
	to finance additional investment in the local and strategic infrastructure necessary to support growth, while preserving incentives to develop;
	to help local communities to better share the benefits of growth and manage its impacts;
	to provide a fairer, more efficient and more transparent means of capturing a modest portion of land value uplift; and
	to create a flexible value capture system that responds to market conditions and does not inappropriately distort decisions between different types of development.

Private Finance Initiative

John Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria his Department uses to compare value for money in a private finance initiative proposal and financing the same scheme from taxation.

John Healey: Government Departments use the Treasury's value for money guidance in making assessments about the suitability of PFI as opposed to conventionally financed programmes, both at a project and programme level. This is available at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/documents/public_private_partnerships/additional_guidance/ppp_vfm_index.cfm

Private Finance Initiative

John Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Government's contingent liability is in the event that all private finance initiative and public-private partnership schemes fail.

John Healey: The Government constantly monitor risks and liabilities relating to PFI but do not undertake a central assessment of liabilities in the event that all PFI/PPP schemes fail, not least because any such figure would be dependent on a number of variables surrounding the specific circumstances of the termination.

Private Finance Initiative

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance he has issued to Departments on the criteria to be used in deciding priorities for the type of projects to be supported using private finance initiative credits.

John Healey: The Project Review Group, which oversees the approval process for local authority PFI projects that receive Government support via PFI credits, has an established evaluation framework. This framework covers the criteria on which projects seeking approval will be assessed. Additionally, Departments are required to use the PFI value for money assessment guidance issued by HM Treasury. These documents are available through the Treasury PPP website at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/documents/public_private_partnerships/ppp_projectreview_group.cfm
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/documents/public_private_partnerships/additional_guidance/ppp_vfm_index.cfm
	Beyond this, Departments determine their own priorities reflecting public service agreements and wider Government objectives in deciding which projects are put forward for PFI credits.

Publications: Waste Disposal

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what guidance his Department has issued on the secure disposal of final review reports where a decision has been taken not to publish them;
	(2)  what guidance the Treasury has provided to the Office of Government Commerce on the retention of documents associated with Gateway reviews.

John Healey: None. The Treasury conforms to civil service guidelines on the retention and disposal of official information.

Social Security Benefits: Migrant Workers

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many claims for  (a) child benefit and  (b) child tax credit were (i) made by and (ii) paid to migrant workers for children (A) living in the UK and (B) living abroad in each year since 2003-04; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how much  (a) child benefit and  (b) child tax credit was paid to migrant workers for children (i) living in the UK and (ii) living abroad in each year from 2003-04 to 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The additional information requested is not available.
	The Accession monitoring report, last published on 22 May 2007 on the Home Office Borders and Immigration Agency website
	http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/accession_monitoring_report
	provides detailed information including the total number of workers from the new member states of the EU which acceded on 1 May 2004 and who have made a claim for child benefit and tax credits.

Social Security Benefits: Migrant Workers

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the Government's policy is on payment of child tax credit to migrant workers in respect of children living outside the UK if such individuals receive child related benefits in the home country; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  which social security benefits are payable to the  (a) children and  (b) spouses of EU migrant workers who are in the UK for dependants who are living abroad but in the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The main purpose of child tax credit (CTC) and child benefit (ChB) is to support families living in the United Kingdom, The general rules for these benefits do not provide for them to be paid in respect of children who reside outside the UK. However, these general rules are supplemented by the co-ordinating rules in EC Regulations 1408/71 and 574/72, which the United Kingdom has applied since it joined the European Economic Community in 1973. The Regulations protect the acquired social security rights of European Economic Area (EEA) workers and their families moving within the Community.
	The Regulations have detailed rules that determine which scheme a worker should contribute to, and which state has responsibility for the payment of family benefits. In general, it provides that the worker pays into the social security scheme of the member state where the work takes place and that state is responsible for the payment of family benefits. If entitlement to family benefits arises in more than one member state, the Regulations contain priority rules to determine who has responsibility for paying. More detailed information relating to these Community rules can be found in leaflet SA29 "Your social security insurance, benefits and healthcare rights in the European Economic Area", published by the Department of Work and Pensions and available on their website.

Tax Allowances: Rented Housing

Martin Horwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of how much would be raised if tax relief was withdrawn for  (a) buy-to-let mortgage owners,  (b) corporate landlords and  (c) homeowners renting out their own homes.

John Healey: Reliable estimates of the yield from withdrawing tax relief for  (a) buy-to-let mortgage owners  (b) corporate landlords and  (c) homeowners renting out their own homes are not available.

Tax Credits

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the statement by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 16 May 2007,  Official Report, column 303WH, on tax credits, when he expects to publish the results of the pilot into payments of tax credits at the time of relationship breakdown.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 11 June 2007
	 HMRC are currently assessing the outcome of the pilot into the payment of tax credits at the time of a relationship breakdown. They will publish their findings and how they intend to take those findings forward in due course.

Tax Revenue: Health Foods

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the taxation revenues generated from the specialist natural health product manufacturing and retailing sectors in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: It is not possible to estimate the taxation revenues generated from the specialist natural health product manufacturing and retail sectors in the last 12 months.

Taxation: Charitable Donations

Hugo Swire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the gross cost of gifts and shares given to charities was in each year since the implementation of the current regime for such giving.

Stephen Timms: Relief from income tax is available to individuals making qualifying gifts of shares to charities. The value of such gifts where tax relief was claimed is as follows:
	
		
			  Year of donation  Value of gifts of shares  (£ million) 
			 2000-01 220 
			 2001-02 160 
			 2002-03 90 
			 2003-04 210 
			 2004-05 200 
		
	
	A corresponding figure for 2005-06 will be published in Table 10.2 on the HMRC website at the end of June 2007.
	Figures for donations of shares to charities from companies are not available.

Taxation: Charitable Donations

Hugo Swire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent studies he has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on private philanthropy.

Stephen Timms: The Government are committed to encouraging philanthropy and published a report on 4 May this year entitled "Charitable Giving By Wealthy People". The report was commissioned to identify the incentives for wealthy people to engage in charitable giving as well as the barriers that may prevent them from doing so. The report can be found on the HM Revenue and Customs website: www.hmrc.gov.uk.

Taxation: Charitable Donations

Hugo Swire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what tax incentives relating to giving to charities are in place; and what the cost of each was to the public purse in each of the last five years.

Stephen Timms: There are several tax incentives available to individuals wishing to make financial donations to charity. These include gift aid, payroll giving, relief on gifts of shares and securities and land and buildings. Gifts of assets to charities are also exempt from capital gains tax and the value of outright gifts and bequests by individuals to UK charities are completely free of inheritance tax, subject to certain provisions preventing donors retaining some degree of interest. Full details are available on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/donors/tax-efficient.htm.
	Estimates of the costs of reliefs on donations to charities by individuals are also published on the HMRC website.
	Figures for the basic rate relief on gift aid donations can be found at table 10.1 http://www.hmrc. gov.uk/stats/charities/table10-1.xls
	Table 10.2 http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/charities/table10-2.xls contains the costs of the following reliefs to individuals:
	Higher rate income tax relief on gift aid donations;
	Income tax relief on payroll giving donations;
	Income tax relief on gifts of shares, securities and real property;
	Inheritance tax relief on bequests to charities.
	Figures for relief from capital gains tax and corporation tax on charitable donations are not available.

Welfare Tax Credits: Overseas Residence

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many people who continued to be UK taxpayers ceased to be eligible for  (a) tax credits and  (b) child benefit as a result of working outside the EU in each year since 2003-04;
	(2)  what the cost to the public purse was of paying  (a) tax credits and  (b) child benefit to those working outside the EU who continue to be UK taxpayers in the latest period for which figures are available.

Stephen Timms: This information is not available.

Written Questions

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to reply to question number 135531, on child benefit, tabled by the hon. Member for Yeovil on 30 April 2007.

Stephen Timms: I have done so.

JUSTICE

Absent Voting

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of postal vote identifiers which were checked in the 2007 local elections.

Bridget Prentice: The Government have asked the Electoral Commission to review and report on the introduction of personal identifiers for absent voting in England and Wales and, in particular, the use of the personal identifiers at the 3 May 2007 elections in England and Wales. We expect to have a clearer picture of the proportion of postal vote personal identifiers which were checked when the Electoral Commission produces its report, which it has been asked to do by 31 July 2007. A copy of the report will be made publicly available when it is produced.
	Returning officers were required to check the personal identifiers on at least 20 per cent. of returned postal votes at the local elections on 3 May 2007. From discussions we have had with electoral administrators, we understand that the level of checking at these elections varied across local authorities.

Administration of Justice: Reviews

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice when the review of the oral hearing process ordered by Mr. Justice Sullivan will be completed.

Gerry Sutcliffe: We are not aware of any order made by Mr. Justice Sullivan that requires a review of the oral hearings process to be carried out. He is, however, reviewing the case of a prisoner serving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection who has brought a judicial review in respect of his parole board hearing. The case is due to be reviewed on 22 June.

Constituencies

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the timetable is for the new Parliamentary boundaries in England  (a) to be fully ratified and  (b) to come into operation.

Bridget Prentice: Following approval by both Houses of Parliament, the draft Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order was submitted to Her Majesty in Council for approval and making. The draft Order appears on the agenda for the meeting of the Privy Council of 13 June 2007.
	The terms of the draft Order provide that it comes into force on the fourteenth day after it is made. The new constituencies will be used at the next general election on or after the date on which the Order comes into force, in accordance with section 4(6) of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986.

Court of Appeal

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what discussions have been held with the Criminal Cases Review Commission on its judgment of the likely success rate of references to the court of appeal; how many cases were reviewed in each of the last five years; and how many were referred to the Court of Appeal.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The rate of convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal following referral from the Criminal Cases Review Commission is around 70 per cent. We understand that the Court of Appeal regard this rate as broadly satisfactory and we have noted that position in discussions with the Commission. The answer to the second part of the question is contained in the following table.
	
		
			  31 March to 1 April each year  Number of cases completed  Number of cases referred 
			 2002-03 1,012 38 
			 2003-04 931 35 
			 2004-05 825 45 
			 2005-06 1,012 47 
			 2006-07 968 38

Courts: Small Claims

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what  (a) primary and  (b) delegated legislation regulates small claims courts; what changes have been made to each since their enactment; what further amendments are planned; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: The Civil Procedure Act 1997 and the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) regulate the small claims procedure, specifically Part 26 of the CPR which deals with the allocation to the small claims track and Part 27 which sets out the procedures. Other parts of the CPR may apply to small claims cases in certain circumstances. The CPR also regulates other types of civil court proceedings. There have been a number of changes made to the CPR since their introduction in April 1999 which can be viewed on http://www.justice.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/update.htm.
	There are no current plans to make changes to the rules in relation to small claims.

eConveyancing Programme

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the  (a) original planned completion date,  (b) original estimated cost,  (c) current planned completion date and  (d) current estimated cost of all IT projects associated with the eConveyancing Programme is; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: The original approved Business Case for the Electronic Conveyancing Programme (2005) estimated that full implementation would occur by 2013-14 with whole life costs to that date in the range of £270 to £310 million. Land Registry's latest estimate of completion is 2014-15 with a revised estimated cost of about £227 million.
	The introduction of Electronic Conveyancing in England and Wales is one of this Government's priority programmes of work that will make the conveyancing process simpler and more transparent for both conveyancers and their clients. The Programme's implementation plan is constantly reviewed and updated by Land Registry to ensure that each new service and product is fully tested and that customer feedback is taken on board. This has led to some slippage in the overall programme with a consequent reduction in the running costs contained in the original costing.
	An early prototype of the Chain Matrix (TM) has already been launched and is being tested by a number of conveyancers in the Southwest of England. A pilot of electronic conveyancing will follow once the necessary legislation is in place.

Elections: Standards

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice whether any manual counts have taken place in local election pilot areas which used electronic counting  (a) in 2007 and  (b) in previous pilots to verify the accuracy of the counting machines.

Bridget Prentice: Since 2000, no manual counts have taken place in electoral pilot schemes to verify the accuracy of electronic counting machines. However, pre-election quality assurance audit and acceptance tests have been conducted to verify the accuracy of machinery and software before the systems are used to count in an electoral pilot scheme.

Electoral Register

John Spellar: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what estimate her Department has made of the cost implications of linking the electoral registration process to the National Identity Register.

Bridget Prentice: The Government have not made an estimate of the cost implications of linking the electoral registration process to the National Identity Register.

Electronic Tagging

Anne Moffat: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice whether her Department is undertaking a review of the electronic tagging operations of Group 4 Securicor.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Following the allegations against Group4Securicor (G4S) in the BBC Programme "Inside Out" in March 2007, the National Offender Management Service required G4S to investigate the allegations. G4S undertook an internal and external audit of its electronic monitoring operations in all three contract areas. The National Offender Management Service undertook its own investigation. Following consideration of both investigations, a rectification notice was issued on the East Midlands Region of G4S at the end of April, requiring the remedy of the defaults within 60 days.

Feltham Young Offender Institution and Remand Centre

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice whether she has received the official report into the so-called Muslim Olympics racist incident at HM Young Offenders Institution Feltham; what action she has taken to address the management issues leading to the incident; if she will place a copy of the report in the Library; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The hon. Member is referring to allegations of inappropriate racist behaviour. An investigation took place leading to a disciplinary hearing and the dismissal of two members of staff. No management issues lead to this incident. It is not Prison Service policy to publish investigation reports.

Group 4 Securicor

Anne Moffat: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what representations her Department and its predecessors have received on Group 4 Securicor.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Following the allegations about the electronic monitoring service provided by Group4Securicor (G4S) in the BBC Programme "Inside Out" in March 2007, the National Offender Management Service fully investigated the matters raised and issued a rectification notice requiring the remedy of the defaults within 60 days. No representations have been received from Members of Parliament or national organisations relating specifically to these allegations. G4S is contracted to provide other services to the Ministry of Justice and Home Office, including contracts to run Parc prison and Oak Hill Secure Training Centre. Such representations have not been received regarding these or other contracts.

Joint Ministerial Committee

David Lidington: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice on which dates the Joint Ministerial Committee has met in plenary form in the last two years; and if she will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: I refer the hon. Member for Aylesbury to my written answer of 7 June 2007,  Official Report, column 688W. The Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) exists in both plenary and functional formats, where the latter focuses on specific areas such as health, poverty, the knowledge economy and Europe. There have been no plenary meetings of the JMC over the last two years, but there have been at least 11 meetings of the JMC in its functional format over this same period.

Parole: Waiting Lists

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many oral hearings are waiting to be considered by the Parole Board; what the  (a) average waiting time is and  (b) longest waiting time is; and what the corresponding figures were in May 2006.

Gerry Sutcliffe: 2,138 oral hearings are currently waiting to be considered by the Parole Board. Figures for the average waiting time and longest waiting time are not recorded centrally. The time taken to arrange hearings depends on the circumstances of the case.

Parole: Waiting Lists

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what assessment her Department has made of the reasons for delays in Parole Board hearings; and what steps she is taking to reduce such delays.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Parole Board hearings to review whether offenders should continue to be held in custody require information to be collected from a variety of sources within the criminal justice system. There are also large numbers of hearings to be conducted any one time. Sometimes, therefore, delays regrettably occur. I am assured by the Parole Board, however, that every effort is continuing to be made to ensure that all hearings are conducted as expeditiously as possible.

Prison Service: Manpower

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many people are employed by HM prisons in  (a) England and  (b) Wales.

Gerry Sutcliffe: On 31 May 2007, the number of people employed in prisons and young offender institutions was 48,822 in England and 1,485 in Wales. It was not possible to provide data in the timescale available for answering this question for the contracted establishments of Bronzefield, Forest Bank and Peterborough.

Prison Service: Professional Standards Unit

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the functions are of the Professional Standards Unit at HM Prison Service in the  (a) gathering and  (b) evaluation of intelligence about misconduct among (i) staff and (ii) inmates at prison establishments; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Prison Service Professional Standards Unit receives, develops and analyses intelligence on staff misconduct. The gathering and evaluation of this intelligence is carried out by area and local professional standard managers.
	It is not within the remit of the Professional Standards Unit to be involved in prisoner-related intelligence unless there is a staff misconduct element.

Prison Service: Professional Standards Unit

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice 
	(1)  what  (a) mechanisms and  (b) resources exist within the Professional Standards Unit Investigation Support Section at HM Prison Service to conduct investigations into alleged staff misconduct; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how many investigations were conducted by the Professional Standards Unit Investigation Support Section at HM Prison Service into alleged staff misconduct in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Investigation Support Section is an administrative function set up to register, track and store all formal investigations commissioned in the Prison Service. It also monitors the progress of investigations, maintains a register of trained investigators and provides advice and statistical reports. The section does not conduct investigations. Instead, conducting investigations is the responsibility of the management line.

Prison Service: Professional Standards Unit

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice 
	(1)  how many staff are employed in the Professional Standards Directorate at HM Prison Service; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how many staff are employed in the intelligence section of the Professional Standards Unit at HM Prison Service; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Professional Standards Unit currently employs 14 staff. Of those 14, eight are allocated to the Intelligence Support Section.

Prisoners: Contraception

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how much has been spent on condoms and lubricants for distribution to prisoners by the Prison Service in the latest year for which figures are available.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is not held centrally.

Prisoners: Repatriation

John Spellar: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice pursuant to the answer of 22 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1257W, on prisoners: repatriation, when she expects discussions with other Governments regarding prisoner transfers to commence.

David Hanson: The United Kingdom has prisoner transfer arrangements with 96 countries and territories. The majority of these countries are signatories to the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons. On 3 and 4 of May 2007 preliminary discussions were held in Strasbourg to discuss a Greek proposal for a second additional protocol to the Convention. This would extend the circumstances under which a prisoner can be transferred without his or her consent. The United Kingdom is supporting this proposal.
	The UK has concluded 20 bilateral prisoner transfer agreements from which we hold about 400 sentenced prisoners. While this number is not insignificant, resources are at present dedicated towards negotiating agreements that are likely to deliver significant benefits such as the EU prisoner transfer agreement and the second additional protocol to the Council of Europe Convention.

Prisons

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what plans her Department has to increase the capacity of prisons in England and Wales.

David Hanson: A new capacity-building programme which will deliver 8,000 new prison places by 2012 was announced as part of the Criminal Justice Review in July 2006.
	The 8,000-place programme comes on top of already planned expansions at existing prisons.
	Overall, in 2007, capacity will increase by around 2,200 places.

Prisons: Sex Offender Treatment Programme

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice if she will make a statement on the effectiveness of the Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP) for  (a) high,  (b) medium and  (c) low risk offenders; and what the subsequent reconviction rates are for offenders from each of these categories who took part in the SOTP since its inception.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The most robust evaluation of the Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP) in England and Wales (Home Office, 2003) examined the impact of the prison-based programme. This compared two-year reconviction rates for prisoners who participated in the programme with those who did not.
	Findings indicated that the SOTP had an impact on reconvictions for sexual and/or violent offences (as a combined measure). An explanation for this effect could be that a proportion of violent reconvictions were sexually motivated offences. Sexual reconvictions were combined with those for violent offences because sexual offenders (in the absence of intervention) are reconvicted for sexual offences at a very low rate—less than 5 per cent. over two years. Any decrease in this rate as a result of treatment is therefore unlikely to be statistically significant.
	For combined sexual and violent reconviction, the treatment group showed a statistically significantly lower rate of reconviction overall than the comparison group (4.6 per cent. and 8.1 per cent. respectively, see Table 4 in Home Office Research Findings No. 205). Treatment participants in the medium-low and medium-high risk groups showed a statistically significantly lower rate of reconviction than respective risk groups in the comparison sample (see Table 4 in HORF 205).
	For general and sexual reconviction rates, the treatment group showed lower rates of reconviction than the comparison group although differences were not statistically significant (see Tables 5 and 3 respectively in HORF 205). No statistically significant differences were found among risk groups.
	These findings relate to offenders who completed the SOTP between 1992 and 1994. A programme of research is planned to examine the impact of the prison-based SOTP delivered to offenders post-1994 in terms of both short-term change in relation to treatment targets (e.g. victim empathy) and longer-term change in terms of future re-offending.

Prisons: Sex Offender Treatment Programme

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what plans she has to increase resources for the Sex Offender Treatment Programme at each prison where the number of prisoners exceeds the programme capacity; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The National Offender Management Service has set up a standing group to take forward work on a treatment strategy for sex offenders to ensure that effective treatment is delivered to sex offenders in custody and the community as part of a broader package of interventions and management controls to reduce the risk of re-offending. As part of this work provision for sex offenders in custody will be considered.

Victim Support Schemes: Counselling

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice 
	(1)  how many victims of miscarriages of justice and their families have been offered post-traumatic stress counselling in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how many prisoners were released after the quashing of their convictions by the Court of Appeal following a reference from the Criminal Cases Review Commission in each of the last five years; what support and after care they were offered; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: We do not collect data on the number of prisoners released after the quashing of their convictions by the Court of Appeal.
	The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) an executive NDPB which was set up under the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 and which became operational in January 1997 aims to review alleged and suspected miscarriages of justice, and to refer them to the Court of Appeal, whenever they consider that there is a real possibility that a conviction, verdict, finding or sentence would not be upheld.
	Support and after care is offered to victims of miscarriages of justice from the Miscarriages of Justice Support Service, operated by the Citizens Advice Bureau at the Royal Courts of Justice, by the Ministry of Justice. It is funded under a three-year contract. It aims to ensure that victims of miscarriages of justice receive appropriate advice, guidance and support. Advice and support is offered at every stage of the process. This includes: finding accommodation; establishing income; applying for national insurance credits; registering with a GP and accessing appropriate healthcare and counselling; opening a bank account and budgeting; family/relationship issues; employment and training needs; finding a solicitor to deal with compensation claims.
	All clients of the Miscarriages of Justice Support Service are offered counselling as part of their initial assessment interview with an adviser. In the past 12 months, 25 new cases have been taken on by the service, and seven clients have received an assessment by a consultant forensic psychiatrist. Following assessment, the psychiatrist refers the client for appropriate ongoing counselling. Families are not part of this assessment, but the psychiatrist may recommend that they are involved in family therapy if appropriate.

Weare Prison

John Spellar: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice pursuant to the answer of 1 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1584W, on Weare Prison, if she will place in the Library a copy of the investment appraisal on HMP Weare.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There are no plans to disclose the detailed appraisal.

Young Offender Institutions: Crimes of Violence

David Lidington: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many  (a) assaults by prisoners on staff and  (b) assaults by prisoners on other prisoners there were in each young offender institution in each year since 2003.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is set out in the following table. The data are taken from the Prison Service Incident Reporting System and the figures therefore relate to incidents reported.
	
		
			  YOI  Assault type  2003  2004  2005  2006 ( 1) 2007 
			 Ashfield Prisoner on officer 62 71 152 127 21 
			  Prisoner on other 8 19 28 9 4 
			  Prisoner on prisoner 271 304 500 625 130 
			
			 Aylesbury Prisoner on officer 15 5 15 18 2 
			  Prisoner on other  1 2   
			  Prisoner on prisoner 26 21 78 80 18 
			
			 Brinsford Prisoner on officer 31 26 17 8 2 
			  Prisoner on other 8 8 2 2  
			  Prisoner on prisoner 304 326 344 187 28 
			 Castington Prisoner on officer 52 53 50 42 10 
			  Prisoner on other 4 4  4 1 
			  Prisoner on prisoner 312 384 361 360 88 
			
			 Deerbolt Prisoner on officer 5 25 32 21 8 
			  Prisoner on other 1 3 1 1  
			  Prisoner on prisoner 167 205 164 152 31 
			
			 Feltham Prisoner on officer 102 169 129 115 24 
			  Prisoner on other 1 4 9 3 1 
			  Prisoner on prisoner 569 576 549 476 105 
			
			 Glen Parva Prisoner on officer 27 39 31 40 12 
			  Prisoner on other 2   5 1 
			  Prisoner on prisoner 241 230 269 341 75 
			
			 Hindley Prisoner on officer 23 13 30 55 9 
			  Prisoner on other 4 1 2 3 1 
			  Prisoner on prisoner 111 63 112 348 98 
			
			 Huntercombe Prisoner on officer 18 15 14 32 6 
			  Prisoner on other 1  1 1  
			  Prisoner on prisoner 77 79 95 184 53 
			
			 Lancaster Farms Prisoner on officer 9 27 46 51 13 
			  Prisoner on other  1 1 5 2 
			  Prisoner on prisoner 17 185 435 363 96 
			
			 Northallerton Prisoner on officer 11 13 10 6  
			  Prisoner on other 8 9 4 3 2 
			  Prisoner on prisoner 82 84 104 82 20 
			
			 Portland Prisoner on officer 15 39 37 41 9 
			  Prisoner on other 1  3 1  
			  Prisoner on prisoner 61 125 154 127 36 
			
			 Rochester Prisoner on officer 15 16 23 13 1 
			  Prisoner on other 1 2
			  Prisoner on prisoner 51 102 78 100 22 
			
			 Stoke Heath Prisoner on officer 20 37 52 63 14 
			  Prisoner on other  2 4 6 2 
			  Prisoner on prisoner 137 239 438 506 108 
			
			 Swinfen Hall Prisoner on officer 8 4 10 9 1 
			  Prisoner on other 1   1  
			  Prisoner on prisoner 110 96 104 89 18 
			
			 Thorn Cross Prisoner on officer 3 1 I 3  
			  Prisoner on other 1   1  
			  Prisoner on prisoner 39 7 19 143 17 
			
			 Wellington Prisoner on officer 21 18 19 19 1 
			  Prisoner on other 3 1  3  
			  Prisoner on prisoner 129 104 139 143 18 
			 Wetherby Prisoner on officer 11 70 66 56 10 
			  Prisoner on other 3 7 6 4 1 
			  Prisoner on prisoner 175 414 492 401 86 
			 (1) Year to 28 March 2007.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alexander Litvinenko

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what recent discussions his Department had with the Crown Prosecution Service on the case of Alexander Litvinenko;
	(2)  what discussions his Department has had with the Russian authorities on the case of Alexander Litvinenko in the last three months.

Joan Ryan: Discussions have taken place between the Home Office and the CPS about mutual legal assistance issues including mutual legal assistance requests that were made, via the UK Central Authority at the Home Office, to a number of other countries during the course of the domestic police investigation into the death of Alexander Litvinenko. Home Office officials also spoke with the Crown Prosecution Service concerning the transmission of the extradition request for the person alleged to have murdered Mr. Litvinenko.
	Home Office officials have also been in contact with the Russian Prosecutor General's office, by both letter and telephone to provide updates on progress being made with the Russian request for assistance in their investigation into the case, and concerning the documentation of the extradition request.

Animal Experiments: EC Law

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all British animal research and breeding establishments will be compliant with the new Europe-wide guidelines on laboratory animal housing and care as set out in the revised Appendix A to the Council of Europe Convention ETS 123 which will come into force on 15 June;
	(2)  by what date he estimates that all British animal research and breeding establishments will be compliant with the revised Appendix A to the Council of Europe Convention ETS 123.

Joan Ryan: Council of Europe Convention ETS 123 makes provision for the protection of vertebrate animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes. The UK Government have signed and ratified the Convention.
	In implementing the Convention, parties are required to have regard to the guidelines for the accommodation and care of protected animals set out in Appendix A to the Convention. A revised Appendix A, to which the UK Government made a significant contribution, was adopted in June 2006.
	The Home Office has actively advised those seeking to commission, refurbish, operate and equip animal facilities to have regard to the revised Appendix A guidelines in their planning, policies and practices both as the new provisions emerged during the revision process and following their formal adoption. In addition, we have widely circulated a note for users, prepared by the Animal Procedures Committee, explaining the key features of the revised Appendix. Work has also begun on amending the current Home Office Codes of Practice to take account of its revised provisions.
	As a result of the actions we have taken so far, we are already seeing the revised guidelines reflected in United Kingdom practice. However, it is not possible to estimate by what precise date all animal research and breeding establishments will be fully compliant. Further information on the relevant transitional arrangements and timescales will be set out in the revised Codes of Practice which we aim to publish in 2008 after the requirements for consultation and Parliamentary scrutiny, set out in sections 21(3) and 21(5), respectively, of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, have been met.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders were breached in  (a) England and Wales and  (b) Gloucestershire in each year since the introduction of the penalty; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 6 March 2007
	Antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) breach data are currently available up to 31 December 2005 for ASBOs issued since 1 June 2000. The available information is given in the following table.
	
		
			  N umber of persons proven in court to have breached their ASBO in England and Wales and in the Gloucestershire criminal justice system (CJS) area( 1)  in each year 
			  Area  2000( 2)  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 England and Wales 13 124 254 715 1,864 3,390 
			 Gloucestershire — 1 1 5 13 36 
			 (1)( )ASBOs may be issued in one area and breached in another. In this table ASBOs breached in Gloucestershire are counted irrespective of whether issued in Gloucestershire or not. (2) From 1 June 2000. No ASBO breach data are available prior to this date.  Notes: 1. It is possible for an individual to breach their ASBO in more than one year, so persons may be counted more than once in this table. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: OCJR Court Proceedings Database

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 23 February 2007,  Official Report, column 985W, on antisocial behaviour orders, how many and what percentage of antisocial behaviour orders included  (a) an individual support order and  (b) an intervention order in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Vernon Coaker: Information is given in the table on the number of individual support orders given in 2005 (latest available). This pre-dates the joint campaign by the Home Office, Youth Justice Board and her Majesty's Court Service to increase take up which began early in 2006 and is continuing. Data for subsequent periods will be published in due course.
	
		
			  Number of individual support orders( 1)  given at the magistrates court, in addition to an antisocial behaviour order, as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, 2005—England and Wales 
			   Number/percentage 
			 Individual support orders 42 
			 ASBOs issued on application (age 10-17) 633 
			 Percentage of ASBOs with an ISO attached 7 
			 (1) Available at the magistrates courts only with ASBOs issued, on application, to juveniles (age 10-17).  Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Greater London

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders were  (a) issued and  (b) breached in each month of the last five years in (i) each region and (ii) each London borough.

Vernon Coaker: Data collected centrally on the number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued are compiled on a quarterly basis. Data, up to 31 December 2005 (latest available), broken down by Criminal Justice System (CJS) area are given in table A.
	Information on the number of ASBOs issued by the local authority area within which prohibitions have been imposed is published annually. It can be found on the crime reduction website at: http://www.crime reduction.gov.uk/asbos/asbos2.htm and is given in table B.
	ASBO breach data are available annually by CJS area only. Information is given in table C.
	
		
			  Table A: Number of antisocial behaviour orders issued at all courts as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, by Criminal Justice System area, year and quarter, 2001 to 2005, England and Wales 
			2001  2002 
			  CJS area  Total issued  Jan-Mar  Apr-Jun  Jul-Sep  Oct-Dec  Total  Jan-Mar  Apr-Jun  Jul-Sep  Oct-Dec  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 210 3 8 3 5 19 1 4 2 3 10 
			 Bedfordshire 82 2 0 0 2 4 0 3 1 0 4 
			 Cambridgeshire 95 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 2 
			 Cheshire 208 0 0 0 2 2 0 5 7 1 13 
			 Cleveland 111 0 2 2 0 4 0 1 1 3 5 
			 Cumbria 114 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 5 5 13 
			 Derbyshire 118 1 1 0 4 6 2 0 0 0 2 
			 Devon and Cornwall 177 3 4 3 0 10 0 1 0 2 3 
			 Dorset 75 0 2 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Durham 91 3 2 1 3 9 2 2 1 3 8 
			 Essex 149 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 
			 Gloucestershire 66 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 
			 Greater London 1,144 4 4 4 3 15 5 2 2 12 21 
			 Greater Manchester 1,225 3 1 7 14 25 8 15 23 32 78 
			 Hampshire 270 1 1 1 3 6 1 2 3 4 10 
			 Hertfordshire 144 4 1 2 2 9 1 1 2 2 6 
			 Humberside 227 1 0 1 2 4 1 2 1 0 4 
			 Kent 156 10 1 1 5 17 1 0 0 15 16 
			 Lancashire 352 4 3 1 3 11 4 6 2 1 13 
			 Leicestershire 116 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 
			 Lincolnshire 43 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 2 0 2 
			 Merseyside 297 2 4 0 1 7 3 6 4 9 22 
			 Norfolk 117 7 0 4 1 12 9 0 0 0 9 
			 Northamptonshire 82 0 0 0 5 5 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Northumbria 297 0 2 0 7 9 9 1 3 3 16 
			 North Yorkshire 91 0 1 6 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Nottinghamshire 251 0 8 3 0 11 1 0 1 0 2 
			 South Yorkshire 244 1 0 4 2 7 2 4 6 7 19 
			 Staffordshire 166 2 2 2 0 6 2 9 1 0 12 
			 Suffolk 165 0 2 0 2 4 1 0 0 4 5 
			 Surrey 108 0 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 2 
			 Sussex 241 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 10 6 16 
			 Thames Valley 161 2 3 0 2 7 2 1 3 0 6 
			 Warwickshire 86 1 0 1 0 2 3 3 4 5 15 
			 West Mercia 223 10 21 4 4 39 13 4 5 8 30 
			 West Midlands 748 10 22 12 14 58 2 10 5 13 30 
			 West Yorkshire 690 4 1 5 4 14 2 6 1 5 14 
			 Wiltshire 52 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 
			 England 9,192 80 97 71 96 344 78 93 97 146 414 
			 Dyfed Powys 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Gwent 72 1 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 2 
			 North Wales 167 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 2 7 
			 South Wales 146 0 0 1 3 4 0 3 0 0 3 
			 Wales 420 1 0 1 4 6 4 3 3 2 12 
			 Total E and W 9,612 81 97 72 100 350 82 96 100 148 426 
		
	
	
		
			   2003  2004 
			  CJS area  Jan-Mar  Apr-Jun  Jul-Sep  Oct-Dec  Total  Jan-Mar  Apr-Jun  Jul-Sep  Oct-Dec  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 1 8 14 8 31 16 20 32 21 89 
			 Bedfordshire 5 3 2 6 16 1 4 9 4 18 
			 Cambridgeshire 5 6 2 2 15 8 6 9 3 26 
			 Cheshire 6 6 10 11 33 8 20 14 20 62 
			 Cleveland 0 2 8 4 14 4 3 7 14 28 
			 Cumbria 6 8 5 1 20 4 8 9 10 31 
			 Derbyshire 4 3 0 3 10 9 17 12 8 46 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2 3 6 1 12 3 22 31 24 80 
			 Dorset 2 4 7 4 17 6 6 18 6 36 
			 Durham 3 0 8 5 16 9 8 4 10 31 
			 Essex 0 2 2 12 16 11 9 15 24 59 
			 Gloucestershire 1 2 4 0 7 3 5 8 10 26 
			 Greater London 10 31 41 57 139 84 94 133 130 441 
			 Greater Manchester 14 60 74 88 236 101 100 114 115 430 
			 Hampshire 4 6 16 17 43 17 27 28 27 99 
			 Hertfordshire 7 1 1 8 17 13 11 12 4 40 
			 Humberside 0 2 5 3 10 4 14 27 27 72 
			 Kent 3 7 1 14 25 6 19 11 18 54 
			 Lancashire 15 13 10 16 54 27 25 38 36 126 
			 Leicestershire 1 2 3 9 15 6 4 10 21 41 
			 Lincolnshire 0 3 1 3 7 5 1 4 2 12 
			 Merseyside 7 6 15 16 44 24 20 25 27 96 
			 Norfolk 5 1 1 0 7 7 8 17 11 43 
			 Northamptonshire 2 1 1 2 6 3 12 8 16 39 
			 Northumbria 5 10 7 3 25 10 16 16 32 74 
			 North Yorkshire 2 0 0 7 9 8 9 11 13 41 
			 Nottinghamshire 1 6 6 8 21 14 18 22 37 91 
			 South Yorkshire 3 10 10 11 34 9 20 25 26 80 
			 Staffordshire 8 7 7 8 30 13 8 25 13 59 
			 Suffolk 7 4 6 8 25 11 16 25 26 78 
			 Surrey 1 2 2 2 7 7 13 13 15 48 
			 Sussex 1 8 9 13 31 6 34 25 32 97 
			 Thames Valley 4 4 2 6 16 12 18 31 16 77 
			 Warwickshire 3 0 5 3 11 9 5 6 8 28 
			 West Mercia 11 5 6 6 28 8 13 15 20 56 
			 West Midlands 24 26 38 31 119 36 51 63 88 238 
			 West Yorkshire 17 17 26 37 97 86 80 69 70 305 
			 Wiltshire 0 1 2 6 9 6 6 4 4 20 
			 England 190 280 363 439 1,272 614 770 945 988 3,317 
			 Dyfed Powys 1 2 8 1 12 4 2 2 0 8 
			 Gwent 1 1 4 2 8 4 5 9 9 27 
			 North Wales 0 6 4 5 15 9 6 12 15 42 
			 South Wales 13 2 3 11 29 4 12 18 12 46 
			 Wales 15 11 19 19 64 21 25 41 36 123 
			 Total England and Wales 205 291 382 458 1,336 635 795 986 1,024 3,440 
		
	
	
		
			   2005 
			  CJS area  Jan-Mar  Apr-Jun  Jul-Sep  Oct-Dec  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 27 12 11 11 61 
			 Bedfordshire 5 19 6 10 40 
			 Cambridgeshire 14 15 11 10 50 
			 Cheshire 27 30 29 12 98 
			 Cleveland 15 13 17 15 60 
			 Cumbria 11 15 14 9 49 
			 Derbyshire 16 13 11 14 54 
			 Devon and Cornwall 30 16 18 8 72 
			 Dorset 3 6 6 4 19 
			 Durham 4 10 6 7 27 
			 Essex 26 25 15 6 72 
			 Gloucestershire 14 12 3 1 30 
			 Greater London 154 143 118 113 528 
			 Greater Manchester 124 133 115 84 456 
			 Hampshire 32 34 27 19 112 
			 Hertfordshire 21 17 20 14 72 
			 Humberside 36 36 36 29 137 
			 Kent 14 12 10 8 44 
			 Lancashire 33 38 44 33 148 
			 Leicestershire 28 16 4 11 59 
			 Lincolnshire 5 5 5 5 20 
			 Merseyside 39 41 21 27 128 
			 Norfolk 13 13 12 8 46 
			 Northamptonshire 13 8 9 1 31 
			 Northumbria 51 53 42 27 173 
			 North Yorkshire 10 3 11 10 34 
			 Nottinghamshire 41 28 34 23 126 
			 South Yorkshire 34 25 17 28 104 
			 Staffordshire 14 21 16 8 59 
			 Suffolk 11 18 10 14 53 
			 Surrey 14 13 12 10 49 
			 Sussex 22 29 22 21 94 
			 Thames Valley 16 12 12 15 55 
			 Warwickshire 6 9 11 4 30 
			 West Mercia 10 24 18 18 70 
			 West Midlands 92 81 83 47 303 
			 West Yorkshire 58 61 65 76 260 
			 Wiltshire 7 8 5 2 22 
			 England 1,090 1,067 926 762 3,845 
			 Dyfed Powys 1 2 5 7 15 
			 Gwent 7 14 7 5 33 
			 North Wales 23 31 29 20 103 
			 South Wales 15 15 18 16 64 
			 Wales 46 62 59 48 215 
			 Total England and Wales 1,136 1,129 985 810 4,060 
			  Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B : Number of ASBOs issued annually at all courts, where prohibitions have been imposed in local government authority areas in Greater London, 2001-05 
			  Greater London boroughs  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  Total issued 
			 Barking and Dagenham — — 2 4 19 25 
			 Barnet 2 — 1 10 9 22 
			 Bexley — 6 4 4 6 20 
			 Brent — — 8 6 11 25 
			 Bromley — — 5 3 5 13 
			 Camden 1 10 30 57 69 167 
			 City of London Corp — — — 10 6 16 
			 Croydon — — 7 8 10 25 
			 Ealing — — 1 14 9 24 
			 Enfield — — 2 4 15 21 
			 Greenwich 3 1 3 8 11 26 
			 Hackney 1 1 1 15 14 32 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 2 — 4 12 16 34 
			 Haringey — — 5 34 25 64 
			 Harrow — — 1 12 2 15 
			 Havering — — 1 9 19 29 
			 Hillingdon — — — 18 36 54 
			 Hounslow — — 7 23 22 52 
			 Islington — — 10 6 10 26 
			 Kensington and Chelsea Royal Borough — — 1 9 7 17 
			 Kingston-on-Thames — — 4 4 5 13 
			 Lambeth 2 1 2 20 20 45 
			 Lewisham 2 — 5 16 12 35 
			 Merton — 1 2 13 10 26 
			 Newham 2 — — 5 11 18 
			 Redbridge — — 1 8 9 18 
			 Richmond upon Thames — — 3 10 13 26 
			 Southwark — — 8 11 18 37 
			 Sutton — — 7 7 19 33 
			 Tower Hamlets — 1 3 16 36 56 
			 Waltham Forest — — — 15 11 26 
			 Wandsworth — — 6 12 12 30 
			 Westminster — — 6 38 35 79 
			 Total 15 21 140 441 532 1,149 
			  Notes:  1. This local authority area table differs from criminal justice system (CJS) area tables in that an issuing court can be outside the area in which the restrictions have been imposed.  2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table C:  N umber of persons proven in court to have breached their ASBO in each Criminal Justice System (CJS) area( 1) , in each year, from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2005 
			  CJS area  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 Avon and Somerset 5 6 15 52 67 
			 Bedfordshire — 5 9 9 22 
			 Cambridgeshire 3 2 8 14 22 
			 Cheshire — 6 13 43 67 
			 Cleveland 2 5 12 28 58 
			 Cumbria 2 2 17 35 55 
			 Derbyshire 4 5 5 17 36 
			 Devon and Cornwall 3 1 8 18 39 
			 Dorset 1 1 8 25 37 
			 Durham 9 13 20 31 44 
			 Essex — 1 2 29 70 
			 Gloucestershire 1 1 5 13 36 
			 Greater London 9 13 45 182 372 
			 Greater Manchester 9 23 134 308 531 
			 Hampshire — 4 25 66 95 
			 Hertfordshire — 4 7 24 37 
			 Humberside 1 5 7 26 86 
			 Kent 1 2 5 3 6 
			 Lancashire 7 12 35 76 131 
			 Leicestershire 3 — 4 23 47 
			 Lincolnshire — 1 5 9 18 
			 Merseyside 5 4 18 49 96 
			 Norfolk 2 8 5 14 31 
			 North Yorkshire — 5 2 15 25 
			 Northamptonshire — 1 3 3 3 
			 Northumbria — 10 16 36 110 
			 Nottinghamshire 5 6 10 39 80 
			 South Yorkshire 2 8 26 46 82 
			 Staffordshire 1 5 13 25 43 
			 Suffolk 1 1 9 24 50 
			 Surrey 1 2 3 19 41 
			 Sussex 1 4 17 43 87 
			 Thames Valley — 2 8 31 50 
			 Warwickshire — 8 12 18 30 
			 West Mercia 11 18 27 41 67 
			 West Midlands 25 40 84 163 250 
			 West Yorkshire 7 9 38 190 303 
			 Wiltshire — 1 5 12 19 
			 England 121 244 685 1,799 3,243 
			 Dyfed Powys — — 5 5 7 
			 Gwent 2 2 2 18 35 
			 North Wales 1 4 9 20 65 
			 South Wales — 4 14 22 40 
			 Wales 3 10 30 65 147 
			 England and Wales 124 254 715 1,864 3,390 
			 (1) ASBOs may be issued in one area and breached in another. Breaches are counted in this table on area of BREACH.   Notes:  1. It is possible for an individual to breach their ASBO in more than one year, so persons may be counted more than once in this table.  2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.   Source:  OCJR Court Proceedings Database.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many antisocial behaviour orders were breached in Lancashire in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many antisocial behaviour orders were breached in Lancashire in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: The available information (up to 31 December 2005, latest available) is given in the following table.
	
		
			  N umber( 1)  of persons proven in court to have breached their ASBO in the Lancashire criminal justice system (CJS) area in each of the last five years 
			  CJS area  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 Lancashire 7 12 35 76 131 
			 (1) ASBOs may be issued in one area and breached in another. In this table ASBOs breached in Lancashire are counted irrespective of whether issued in Lancashire or not.  Notes: 1. It is possible for an individual to breach their ASBO in more than one year, so persons may be counted more than once in this table. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: OCJR Court Proceedings Database.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: North East Region

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued in  (a) the North East and  (b) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland; what percentage have been breached in each case; and what percentage of recipients went on to re-offend.

Vernon Coaker: The number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued at all courts in the north-east region (comprising the Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria Criminal Justice System (CJS) areas) from 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2005 (latest available) is 513. ASBO data are not available at parliamentary constituency level. The number of ASBOs issued at all courts, by the local government authority area in which prohibitions have been imposed in the Cleveland CJS area, is given in the table.
	Information on the number of ASBOs breached is available at CJS area level only. From 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2005 54 per cent. of ASBOs issued in the north-east region were subsequently proven in court to have been breached at least once and 37 per cent. on more than one occasion. The corresponding figures for the Cleveland CJS area are 64 per cent. and 43 per cent. respectively.
	
		
			  Number of ASBOs issued at all courts, as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, where restrictions are imposed within local authority areas in the Cleveland Criminal Justic e System (CJS) area, 1 June 200 0( 1)  to 31 December 2005 
			  CJS area  Total issued 
			 Cleveland 114 
			  O f which:  
			 Hartlepool borough council 14 
			 Middlesbrough borough council 65 
			 Redcar and Cleveland council 18 
			 Stockton-on-Tees borough council 17 
			 (1) From 1 April 1999 to 31 May 2000 data were collected on aggregate numbers only by police force area (pfa). During this period one ASBO was reported issued in the Cleveland pfa.  Notes: 1. This local authority area table differs from criminal justice system (CJS) area tables in that an issuing court can be outside the area in which the restrictions have been imposed. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Anti-Terrorism Control Orders

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact of the current level of police resources on the ability of law enforcement agencies adequately to monitor individuals subject to control orders; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The Home Office undertakes a regular assessment of resources allocated to the police. Funding allocated to the police has increased significantly. Between 2005-06 and 2007-08 we have increased overall police funding by £978 million and within this, counter-terrorism specific funding by over £144 million. Responsibility for monitoring and enforcement of control orders lies with the police and is managed from within their overall budget.

Arrests

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were arrested for non-recordable offences in each of the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
	Information is not collected centrally on persons arrested for non-recordable offences. The main arrests collection, held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, covers persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences), by age group, gender, ethnicity, and main offence group only within the 43 police force areas in England and Wales.

Assets Recovery Agency: Northern Ireland

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library figures to show how much of  (a) the total resource budget,  (b) the total capital budget and  (c) total public spending by the Assets Recovery Agency in each year since 2003-04 relates to the work of the agency in Northern Ireland.

Vernon Coaker: h olding answer 11 June 2007
	The information available is set out in the tables. The information in the tables on the operating costs of the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) in Northern Ireland in 2005-06 varies slightly from that provided in my written answer of 24 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1823W, to the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr. Campbell). The revised figures are the result of a more appropriate reapportionment of associated overhead costs between the London and Belfast offices.
	I am placing this information in the Library of the House.
	
		
			  Table 1: ARA, breakdown of Northern Ireland costs 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Total resource budget—ARA(1) 11,007,634.40 14,017,940.12 22,(1)686,313.43 
			 Asset recoveries applied against receivers' fees—ARA 0.00 0.00 -6,190,696.56 
			 Net operating costs—ARA 11,007,634.40 14,017,940.12 16,495,616.87 
			 
			 Total of resource budget—NI 2,438,693.22 3,667,630.56 7,745,789.72 
			 Asset recoveries applied against receivers' fees—NI 0.00 0.00 -3,020,370.94 
			 Net operating costs—NI 2,438,693.22 3,667,630.56 (A)4,725,418.78 
			 
			 Total of resource budget—GB 8,568,941.18 10,350,309.56 14,940,523.70 
			 Asset recoveries applied against receivers' fees—GB 0.00 0.00 -3,170,325.62 
			 Net operating costs—GB 8,568,941.18 10,350,309.56 11,770,198.08 
			 (1) the total resource budget figure excludes recovered assets applied against receivers' fees, as this funding does not come from the public purse. All other income is netted off against total resource budget, including training income despite not being obtained from public purse. This latter amount is not included due to its relative immateriality. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Total capital budget—ARA 1,073,729.67 100,826.34 473,068.65 
			 Total of capital budget—NI 393,853.70 81,883.49 (B)325,815.53 
			 Total capital budget—GB 679,875.97 18,942.85 147,253.12 
			  Note: The proportion of capital expensed in the relevant year (depreciation) has already been included in the net operating costs figures. Therefore, the capital figures should only be used as memorandum figures to the net operating costs. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Total public spending per year, including capital—NI only 2,832,546.91 3,749,514.05 (A+B)5,051,234.31 
			  Note: Total public spending includes net operating costs and capital. The net operating costs include certain non-cash costs, such as depreciation.

Avon and Somerset Police: Manpower

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in  (a) Avon and Somerset and  (b) Northumbria constabularies in each of the last 10 years.

Tony McNulty: The available data are given in the table as follows.
	
		
			  Police force  Avon and Somerset  Northumbria 
			  As at 31 March:   
			 1996 2,981 3,668 
			 1997 2,989 3,677 
			 1998 2,976 3,769 
			 1999 2,999 3,840 
			 2000 2,934 3,788 
			 2001 2,994 3,857 
			 2002 3,096 3,929 
			 2003 3,149 3,943 
			 2004 3,401 4,040 
			 2005 3,384 4,048 
			 2006 3,389 3,983 
			 (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items (2) Full-time equivalent excludes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave

Citizenship

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have  (a) taken and  (b) passed the Life in the UK test since November 2005; and how many in each category have been refused citizenship.

Liam Byrne: The number of Life in the UK tests taken between 1 November 2005 and 30 April 2007 is 270,149. Of those, 184,798 were passed (68.4 per cent.). Information relating to the number of people who took the test and then were refused citizenship could be obtained by the detailed examination of individual case records only at disproportionate cost. The Life in the UK test is only one of the ways of satisfying the knowledge of language and life in the UK requirement and applications may be refused for other reasons.

Counterfeit Manufacturing: Documents

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what studies have been  (a) undertaken and  (b) commissioned by his Department into the prevalence of companies that advertise and sell false official documents and employment records via the internet; and if he will make a statement.

John Reid: There have been no studies undertaken or commissioned by the Home Office into the advertisement or sale of such documents on the internet.

Crime: Databases

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the potential effect on costs in  (a) the private sector and  (b) the public sector of the introduction of data-sharing measures under part 3 of the Serious Crime Bill.

Vernon Coaker: A public sector cost/benefit analysis of the data sharing measures under part 3 of the Serious Crime Bill can be found in the regulatory impact assessment published on the Home Office website:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/Serious-Crime-Bill-RIA.pdf
	We do not envisage the powers leading to additional costs or burdens on the private sector. Our expectation is that where the powers are taken up they will help to lead to reductions in the cost of fraud in both the public and private sector.

Demonstrations: Parliament Square

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has happened to the  (a) signed poster designed by Banksy and  (b) other materials seized from Brian Haw by the Metropolitan police on his removal from Parliament Square.

Vernon Coaker: Following a police operation on 23 May 2006 a quantity of property, including banners and posters, was taken by the Metropolitan Police Service from the site of Mr. Haw's demonstration in Parliament Square. Mr. Haw has subsequently collected some of his property.
	Mr. Haw has been advised by the Metropolitan Police Service that he may take possession of the remainder of his property at any time provided it is not used to breach the conditions currently imposed upon his demonstration.

Driving Offences

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to tackle drivers avoiding prosecution through being untraceable to an address.

Vernon Coaker: Difficulties with drivers avoiding prosecution do not come primarily from their being untraceable to an address. In 97.5 per cent. of cases, it is possible to trace a vehicle from the database maintained by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The DVLA has firm measures in place to guard against the inclusion of false details. Of those it is not possible to trace, not all will be deliberately seeking to avoid detection.
	Any problem is rather with the difficulty of identifying the person driving a vehicle at the time of an alleged offence. The Road Safety Act 2006 increases the penalty for a vehicle keeper's failure to identify the driver to six penalty points.
	The key to tackling offending driver behaviour is effective police enforcement, including targeting suspect vehicles, individuals and sites and the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition Technology to detect vehicles of interest.
	The police can then take immediate action using the existing powers we have given them. These include the power to seize vehicles being driven antisocially, or without appropriate licence or insurance and the powers to arrest for any offence if necessary to confirm name and address or to prevent hindrance of a prosecution by the disappearance of the suspected offender.

Drug Interventions Programme

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2007,  Official Report, column 803W, on the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP), what the DIP budget allocation was for each intensive DIP area in  (a) 2003-04,  (b) 2004-05 and  (c) 2005-06.

Vernon Coaker: My reply of 16 May referred to the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) Main Grant allocations for 2007-08. As the DIP has evolved, there have been changes to the funding mechanisms each year. These changes have reflected some short-term funding streams and also some integration of separate funding streams to make administration easier at local level.
	Similarly, unlike the constituency of my hon. Friend, not all the areas named in my reply have been part of the programme since 2003. It is accordingly not possible, except at disproportionate cost, to provide DIP budget allocations for each intensive area for  (a) 2003-04,  (b) 2004-05 and  (c) 2005-06 comparable to that in my reply of 16 May.
	But allocations to areas such as the constituency of my hon. Friend have been based on the same criteria and I shall be writing to her with a more detailed explanation of the processes and to see if my officials are able to assist her with the purpose of her inquiry.

DNA Database

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children in Solihull have their DNA stored on a database; and how many of those have been charged with committing a criminal offence.

Joan Ryan: As of 6 June 2007, there were an estimated 229,389 individuals with a DNA profile on the National DNA Database (NDNAD) taken by West Midlands police, of which 19,380 were under 18 years of age at that date. Information held on the NDNAD is available on a police force area basis only. Although the DNA sample in these cases was taken by West Midlands police, the individuals to whom the sample relates will not necessarily be resident in the West Midlands police area.
	The purpose of the National DNA Database is to hold a record of a person's DNA which can be matched against DNA taken from crime scenes. It does not hold data on arrests, charges and convictions—that is held on the Police National Computer. Information on whether under 18s whose DNA has been sampled by the West Midlands police have been charged could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by cross-searching the NDNAD profiles against records held on the Police National Computer.

Human Trafficking: Females

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what progress Project Reflex has made in combating the trafficking of women to the UK to work as prostitutes;
	(2)  what schemes are in operation to assist women who have escaped prostitution and who were originally trafficked into the UK;
	(3)  what steps he is taking to prevent human trafficking in the UK; and what progress is being made in prosecuting those who participate in the trade.

Vernon Coaker: Reflex, the multi-agency Government taskforce on organised immigration crime was set up in March 2000 and has been successful at disrupting organised immigration crime gangs leading to a large number of arrests and seizure of criminal assets. The co-ordination of enforcement work on human trafficking has now moved on with the establishment of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and the UK Human Trafficking Centre in 2006.
	Reflex under SOCA continues to result in the disruption of organised crime gangs involved in trafficking women for sexual exploitation and has a number of multi-agency programmes of activity in this area. These programmes build on the strategies developed under Reflex. Organised Immigration Crime is SOCA's second priority after drug trafficking.
	The Government have funded the POPPY project since March 2003 to provide safe shelter and support to assist in the recovery of adult female victims who have been trafficked into the UK for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
	The Government's strategy to prevent human trafficking has a number of different elements. These include research and intelligence gathering to improve our knowledge and understanding of the scale and nature of human trafficking in the UK; awareness raising and capacity building in source and transit countries; and measures designed to address the demand for trafficked persons.
	The Government are also working with source countries to tackle the problem of trafficking at its root. We have provided funds for various anti-trafficking projects in the Western Balkans region, West Africa (including Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Niger and Togo) and in the Greater Mekong region (parts of Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam).
	The UK Action on tackling human trafficking published on 23 March 2007 provides further details of the work being undertaken across Government to tackle human trafficking.

Human Trafficking: Females

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate the Government have made of the number of women trafficked into the UK in 2006 for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Vernon Coaker: The majority of our knowledge regarding the extent of human trafficking in the UK relates to trafficking for sexual exploitation. It remains difficult to make an accurate assessment of the extent of the problem although intelligence suggests there has been an increase in the trafficking problem over the last two or three years. The findings from a Home Office research paper suggests that at any one time in 2003 there were in the region of 4,000 victims of trafficking for prostitution in the UK. In 2006, a police led multi agency operation on trafficking for sexual exploitation led to the identification of 87 victims from 22 different countries, predominantly from Eastern Europe, China/South-East Asia, Africa or Brazil.

Immigrants: Employment

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many employers have been prosecuted for illegally employing irregular migrants during the last 12 months.

Liam Byrne: The information requested could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.
	Published statistics are not available for the period requested; the latest 12 month period for which information can be provided is 2005. In 2005, 23 employers were proceeded against under section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 (employing a person aged 16 or above subject to immigration control and who is not entitled to work in the UK or to undertake the employment in question) in the magistrates courts. No persons were tried for the same offence at the Crown court in 2005.
	We recognise that the number of prosecutions under section 8 is low, and that is why we have committed to bring forward the introduction of measures contained in the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 to tackle illegal migrant working, which will provide the Border and Immigration Agency with a range of tools with which to tackle non-compliance. The 2006 Act introduces a system of civil penalties for employers who through negligence employ illegal migrant workers, alongside a tough new offence for those knowingly employing illegal workers, which will carry a maximum two year prison sentence and/or an unlimited fine. These new measures will come into force in late 2007.
	On 15 May 2007 the Border and Immigration Agency published 'Prevention of illegal working; Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006; Consultation on the implementation of new powers to prevent illegal migrant working in the UK'. This document contains our action plan for tackling illegal working. Copies have been placed in the House Library and can be downloaded from the Border and Immigration Agency website at:
	http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/lawandpolicy/consultationdocuments/currentconsultations

Immigration: Appeals

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time a Home Office presenting officer spent on  (a) a deportation appeal,  (b) an asylum appeal and  (c) an immigration appeal, excluding the time spent travelling and waiting for, and presenting, an appeal hearing, over the last 12 months.

Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
	According to the records kept by the Treasury Solicitor's Department, the average time spent when instructed in Asylum and Immigration Tribunal appeals for the financial year 2006-07 was 21.6 hours per case. The Treasury Solicitor's Department does not keep records that differentiate between the time spent on different types of appeals heard before the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and therefore cannot state the average time spent on each of the categories of appeal set out in the question.

Independent Police Complaints Commission

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the administration of police investigations.

Tony McNulty: Since 2003, crime has fallen by 10 per cent; since 2002, the rate of offences brought to justice has increased by 39.6 per cent.; and sanction detection rates have increased from 19 per cent. in 2003-04 to 24 per cent. in 2005-06.
	In 2004-05 and 2005-06 the effectiveness of volume crime investigation has been assessed as one of 23 frameworks in Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary's baseline assessment of police forces.
	Over the past three years, the Home Office has commissioned Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) to audit the quality of police detection data recording, and the results are used to improve administration and record-keeping.

Intimidation: Pupils

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers are involved in tackling bullying in schools as part of their duties.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is not collected centrally as part of the police personnel statistics.

Police: Labour Turnover

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of police officer recruits left the police force within two years of joining in each of the last 10 years.

Tony McNulty: The available data on the length of service on leaving the force are available from 2002-03 onwards, and are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of police officers leaving( 1)  within 2 years of joining the service, from 2002-03 to 2005-06 
			  Headcount 
			   Number of officers leaving within two years  Percentage of officers leaving within two years from total number of leavers 
			 2002-03 1,273 15.1 
			 2003-04 1,250 16.7 
			 2004-05 1,164 15.0 
			 2005-06 861 9.8 
			 (1) Includes transfers to other England and Wales forces but does not include officers leaving after a period of secondment.

Police: Manpower

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there are  (a) in the North East,  (b) on Teesside and  (c) in the area corresponding as closely as possible to Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland; and how many there were in 1997.

Tony McNulty: The corresponding data for the requested areas are:  (a) the North East Government Region (encompassing Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria police force areas);  (b) the Cleveland police force area; and  (c) the Basic Command Units (BCUs) within the Cleveland police force area, namely Hartlepool, Langbaurgh, Middlesbrough and Stockton.
	Data are not available at the BCU level for 1997; and the available data are given in the following tables.
	
		
			  1. Police officer strength (FTE)( 1)  in the North East Government region as at 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2006 
			   31 March 1997  31 March 2006 
			 North East Government office region 6,597 7,359 
			 (1) Full-time equivalent figures rounded to the nearest whole number. All officers excluding those staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave (comparable with previously published figures). Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. 
		
	
	
		
			  2. Police officer strength (FTE)( 1)  in Cleveland police force area as at 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2006 
			   31 March 1997  31 March 2006 
			 Cleveland police force 1,459 1,677 
			 1. Full-time equivalent figures rounded to the nearest whole number. All officers excluding those staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave (comparable with previously published figures). Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. 
		
	
	
		
			  3. Police officer strength (FTE)( 1)  in the Basic Command Units within Cleveland police force area as at 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2006( 2) 
			   31 March 2006 
			 Hartlepool BCU 187 
			 Langbaurgh BCU (Redcar and Cleveland) 232 
			 Middlesbrough BCU 287 
			 Stockton BCU 277 
			 Central Services BCU 720 
			 (1) Full-time equivalent figures rounded to the nearest whole number. All officers including those staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items.  (2) Basic Command Unit data are not available for 1997.

Prisoners: Correspondence

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether correspondence between hon. and right hon. Members and inmates is routinely opened by HM Prison staff before it reaches recipients; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
	Correspondence between Members of Parliament (acting in their constituency capacity) and prisoners is not routinely opened by prison staff. Under confidential access arrangements operated by the Prison Service such letters are not opened, read or stopped unless there are exceptional reasons for doing so.

Speed Limits: Cameras

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 4 June 2007,  Official Report, columns 110-11W, on speed limits: cameras, what additional duties have been given to traffic police officers since 1997 in addition to their basic function as traffic regulators.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 11 June 2007
	 The Roads Policing Strategy Statement, agreed in January 2005 between the Home Office, Department for Transport and the Association of Chief Police Officers sets five main objectives for roads policing, whether undertaken by dedicated traffic police officers or others. These are: to deny criminals the use of the roads, to reduce road casualties, to tackle thee threat of terrorism, to reduce antisocial use of the roads and to enhance public confidence and reassurance by patrolling the roads. Within this framework, the allocation of resources and use of officers for different functions is an operational matter for individual chief officers.

Speed Limits: Cameras

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 4 June 2007,  Official Report, columns 110-1W, on speed limits: cameras, what  (a) average and  (b) total overtime was worked by dedicated traffic patrol police officers in each year between 1997 and 2006; what the (i) average and (ii) total mileage per annum of police traffic patrol vehicles was in each year; and how many dedicated police traffic patrol vehicles were in operation in each year.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 11 June 2007
	This information is not collected centrally.

Stop and Search

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many stop and searches were carried out by police under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in each year since the Act's introduction; and how many and what percentage of those searches resulted in an arrest.

John Reid: Information on stop and searches and resultant arrests under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 from 2001-02 to 2004-05 (latest available) is given in the following table.
	2005-06 data will be available later this year.
	
		
			  Searches of vehicles( 1)  and occupants, and pedestrians under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000( 2)  and resultant arrests( 3) , England and Wales, 2001-02 to 2004-05 
			   Stop and searches in order to prevent acts of terrorism 
			   Total searches  Resultant arrests( 3)  Percentage of arrests 
			 2001-02 10,200 189 2 
			 2002-03 32,100 380 1 
			 2003-04 33,800 491 1 
			 2004-05 35,800 455 1 
			 (1) Searches may be conducted on vehicles only, occupants only or both may be searched. Where a vehicle and driver occupier are searched simultaneously the search is recorded against the driver (occupant). Any other passengers searched are recorded as occupants. (2) The Terrorism Act 2000 came into force on 19 February 2001. (3) Includes arrests under the Terrorism Act, arrests for terrorist related matters and other serious crimes.  Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police officers. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Surveillance

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many intrusive surveillance warrants were issued in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 11 June 2007
	The number of authorisations granted, under section 32 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, for the carrying out of intrusive surveillance is included in the Annual Report of the Chief Surveillance Commissioner to the Prime Minister and to Scottish Ministers which is laid before each House of Parliament and published. For the last five reports, the numbers have been:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2001-02 493 
			 2002-03 475 
			 2003-04 447 
			 2004-05 461 
			 2005-06 435

Terrorism

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the recent tracer gas trials in the Westminster area as part of the Department's Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Science and Technology Programme; what discussions he has held on further such trials; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 11 June 2007
	It is not clear what type of assessment the question refers to. The trial is ongoing and the results will be assessed in due course to improve our understanding of the movement of material in the urban environment.
	Further discussions have taken place in respect of the planned second phase of the trial which will be undertaken in early 2008 following analysis of the first phase results.
	We encourage the publication of research results but this may be restricted for reasons of national security.

Terrorism

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the statement of 17 May 2007,  Official Report, column 46WS, on Westminster tracer gas trials, what non-toxic gases were used in the Westminster area as part of the Department's Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Science and Technology Programme.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 11 June 2007
	 The non-toxic gases used in the trial belong to the family of chemicals known as cyclic perfluorocarbons. The actual gases released are: perfluoro methyl cyclohexane; meta perfluoro dimethyl cyclohexane; and para perfluoro dimethyl cyclohexane.

Terrorism: Crime Prevention

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what consideration he has given to the compatibility of proposed changes to counter-terrorism legislation with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights;
	(2)  what representations he has received on the conformity with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights of the changes he is preparing to propose to anti-terrorism legislation.

Tony McNulty: The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a binding international agreement that enshrines fundamental civil and political rights. The Human Rights Act 1998 incorporates ECHR into UK law.
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced on 7 June 2007,  Official Report, column 421, the Government's intention to bring forward a Bill later this year. We are currently embarking on a wide ranging consultation to determine what measures should go into the Bill. Development of the new Counter Terrorism Bill therefore remains at an early stage.
	Consideration of the impact of legislation on the European Convention on Human Rights will be considered as part of the consultation process. Prior to introduction of any Bill into Parliament a memorandum will be produced setting out the Bill's compatibility with the Convention rights, and a written statement on compatibility will be made to each House.

Terrorism: Detainees

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions since 25 July 2006 the police have been obliged by the 28-day pre-charge detention period to release terrorist suspects whom they still wished to detain beyond that period; and what the  (a) date and  (b) circumstances were of each case in which no legal proceedings are active.

John Reid: holding answer 11 June 2007
	 The police do not centrally hold information on the circumstances of each terrorist case where a suspect is not charged within the 28 day pre-charge detention period.

Terrorism: Stop and Search

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he had with Cabinet colleagues prior to announcing to the media the proposals to extend counter-terrorism stop and search powers to the police.

Tony McNulty: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary did not announce any such proposals to the mediathe news reports were the result of a leaked document. All Bill proposals that are intended for inclusion in legislation are subject to Cabinet agreement before they can be discussed during a consultation.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Departments: Official Residences

Theresa May: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will list the official ministerial residences allocated to Ministers in her Department; and what the total annual cost is of running each.

Hilary Armstrong: No Ministers in the Cabinet Office are allocated a ministerial residence.

Slade Green

David Evennett: To ask the Minister without Portfolio what the itinerary was for her visit to Slade Green in the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency on 5 June.

Hazel Blears: This visit was not made in my ministerial capacity.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Cyprus

Edward O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on the implementation of the proposal of the UN Special Representative Ibrahim Gambari to start discussions on the technical committees and working groups as delineated in the agreement between President Papadopoulos of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot leader of 8 July 2006; for what reasons the process has not yet started; and what steps the Government are taking to make progress on the process.

Geoff Hoon: The Government welcomed the 8 July 2006 agreement brokered by former UN Under Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari, and remains fully supportive of the efforts of the UN Secretary-General's Representative in Cyprus, Michael Moller, to launch the technical committees and working groups. The recent report of the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus (accessible at: http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/sgrep07.htm) outlines in detail the reasons why this process has not yet started. The key obstacle is disagreement between the two sides on what constitutes a day-to-day matter, and the mechanisms for resolving disagreements.
	We are disappointed at the lack of progress to date and have raised our concerns at the highest levels. We consider that the status quo is unacceptable and that negotiations on a final political solution have been at an impasse for too long. Time is not on the side of a settlement. We will continue to urge both sides to show the political will and flexibility to bridge the gap between words and deeds, and to engage constructively with the UN's efforts to broker a comprehensive and durable settlement.

Departments: Eligo International Ltd

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the  (a) date,  (b) value and  (c) purpose was of each payment made by her Department or its agencies to Eligo International Ltd since 1997.

Geoff Hoon: There is no record of payments made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in the UK to Eligo International Ltd in this time frame. To establish whether FCO missions overseas have made payments to the company would require each post to check accounts for each of the last 10 years. This would incur disproportionate cost.

Departments: Public Relations

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much was spent by her Department on public relations in each of the last five years.

Geoff Hoon: The following totals have been identified as having been spent on public relations by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO):
	
		
			  Financial year (FY)   
			 2001-02 1,700 
			 2002-03 18,825 
			 2003-04 9,503 
			 2004-05 8,534 
			 2005-06 13,104 
		
	
	The figures for FY 2006-07 are not available as the 2006-07 resource accounts are currently being audited by the National Audit Office.
	The aforementioned figures are for expenditure explicitly identified, according to the FCO's accounting systems, as public relations expenditure. Invoices charged to account codes for specific events or projects in these years are likely to have included public relations activities, but it is not possible to identify the public relations elements of this expenditure without incurring disproportionate cost.
	In addition, the FCO Communication's Directorate (including Press Office, Stakeholder Management and Public Diplomacy departments, for example) undertakes public relations work. It is not possible to identify this expenditure.

Iran: Terrorism

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the role of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the funding and support of terrorism in the Middle East; in which countries IRGC members are known to be active in this way; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is an official organisation of the Iranian Government. We remain deeply concerned that Iran is undermining the prospects for stability, peace and democracy in the region. Iran continues to support those engaged in acts of terrorism, including arming and financing groups which have no regard for securing a peaceful Middle East. We firmly believe that Iran should co-operate fully with the rest of the international community against international terrorism, as required by UN Security Council Resolution 1373 and subsequent Resolutions, including 1701 and 1747. Iran has underlined its commitment to counter terrorism. We look to it to turn words into deeds.

Iraq: Politics and Government

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the security threat facing Iraqis who have worked in a civilian capacity for UK and multi-national forces in Iraq; what measures the Government are taking to improve the safety of such individuals; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: holding answer 7 June 2007
	Violence in Iraq continues at appallingly high levels, affecting all Iraqis. We continue to do what we can to try to help those Iraqis who face a particular threat as a result of having worked for us. Any applications for assistance we receive from current or former staff are considered on a case-by-case basis, taking account of the particular circumstances of the individuals concerned.
	Ultimately, only a reduction in the overall level of violence in Iraq will address this problem at source. This is what we are working hard with the Government of Iraq, our coalition allies and others to try to bring about.

Lancaster House: Official Hospitality

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the projected cost is of the valedictory function at Lancaster House honouring the Prime Minister's Special Envoy to the Middle East; and from which budget the cost will be met.

Geoff Hoon: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, is hosting a farewell reception for my noble Friend Lord Levy, in recognition of his nine years of service as my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's Special Envoy to the Middle East, at Lancaster House on 19 June. The estimated cost of this event is 6,000, which will be met by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's entertainment budget.

Russia: Diplomatic Service

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Russian diplomats have been asked to leave London for activities incompatible with their diplomatic status in the last 12 months.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 11 June 2007
	No Russian diplomat has been asked to leave London for activities incompatible with their diplomatic status in the past 12 months.

Russia: Nuclear Weapons

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on President Putin's threat to acquire new targets in Europe for Russian nuclear missiles.

Geoff Hoon: The UK supports US plans to deploy missile defence assets in Europe. These limited deployments can not undermine a Russian deterrent with missiles still numbered in the hundreds and warheads in the thousands. President Putin since said, in the margins of the G8 Summit, that Russia is proposing co-operation with the US on Ballistic Missile Defence which
	will allow Russia not to change our position on not targeting our missiles.

Sri Lanka: Peace Negotiations

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have been held with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, other Tamil groups and the Government of Sri Lanka on a possible ceasefire agreement; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: I visited Sri Lanka on 11 June and held discussions with President Rajapakse, senior Government Ministers, the Leader of the Opposition, a senior Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian and representatives of non-governmental organisations. UK Government officials also have occasional contact with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in pursuit of the peace process. We urge all the parties to the conflict in Sri Lanka to stop using violence. There can be no military solution.

Turkey: Religious Freedom

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received of the murders of Tilman Geske, Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel on 18 April 2007 in Malatya, Turkey; what representations she has made to the Government of Turkey on violence against Christian minorities; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The Government condemn the recent attack in Malatya and welcome the Turkish Government's determination to bring the perpetrators to justice. We note the detention of 10 suspects and continue to follow developments closely.
	Our embassy in Ankara reports regularly on human rights issues in Turkey, including freedom of religion. We also receive reports from the European Commission and other international organisations.
	Through regular bilateral discussions, we continue to urge Turkey to keep up the momentum of its human rights reform and to ensure that implementation of EU standards is full and consistent.

USA: Ballistic Missile Defence

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with  (a) the United States Administration and  (b) her European Union counterparts on the effects on European security of the placing of anti-ballistic missile systems in eastern European Union countries; and what representations she has made to the Russian Government on President Putin's criticisms of anti-ballistic missile systems deployment.

Geoff Hoon: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary gave to the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks (Mr. Hague) on 4 June 2007,  Official Report, column 237W, and the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Middle East to the hon. Member for Mid-Norfolk (Mr. Simpson) on 28 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1375W. I have had no additional discussions with the US Government or EU Foreign Ministers. The UK is engaged in discussion of this issue through NATO (including the NATO-Russia Council) and other forums.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Extremism

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent meetings she has had on tackling extremism.

Ruth Kelly: As part of my Department's work to tackle all forms of extremism, I have undertaken a range of meetings with stakeholders both inside Government and in local communities and from overseas.

Faith Schools: Admission Policies

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effect on community cohesion and the integration of young people from different religious and racial backgrounds of the practice of discrimination on religious grounds in the admission policies of faith schools.

Phil Woolas: All school governing bodies now have a duty to promote community cohesion and this element of what they do will be inspected by Ofsted from September this year.

Road Markings and Signs: Advertising

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1813W, on road signs and markings: advertising, what further progress has been made on the removal of unauthorised roadside advertisements.

Angela Smith: The recent introduction of the unlawful advertisements and fly-posting database has given local planning authorities a better opportunity to work together to secure prosecution of persistent offenders. Local planning authorities have enthusiastically welcomed the database. There are 162 local planning authorities using the database and 185 records of successful prosecution cases on it.

Affordable Housing

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment she has made of the contribution of the social rented sector in providing affordable homes; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: We are on course to deliver 30,000 social rented homes by the end of 2007-08, and we expect 160,000 households to enter into home ownership through public and private shared equity schemes in the five years to 2010.
	We are also supporting local authorities to take a lead role in developing more social housing, using surplus land.
	Future delivery will be subject to the outcome of Comprehensive Spending Review 2007. The delivery of affordable housing will be a key priority for CSR07.

Affordable Housing

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing spending on affordable housing via the next comprehensive spending review process.

Yvette Cooper: I have had wide-ranging and regular discussions with ministerial colleagues in Treasury about preparations for the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, as a matter of key importance to the Department for Communities and Local Government's medium and long term planning.

Home Information Packs

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what compensation is available to  (a) business and  (b) individual providers who have undertaken preparation and training for the introduction of home information packs.

Yvette Cooper: The proposals we set out on 22 May will mean assessors will be able to begin work shortly. From 1 August, assessors will also start work with four-bedroom properties and larger. We are inviting councils and registered social landlords to work with us to pilot the introduction of Energy Performance Certificates on a voluntary basis in social housing.

Lyons Inquiry

Andrew MacKay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for implementing the recommendations of the Lyons inquiry.

Phil Woolas: Sir Michael Lyons' work played a major contribution in the development of the Local Government White Paper, which is being implemented through the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill. His report and recommendations will continue to inform the development of Government policy.

Digital Challenge

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on the digital challenge.

Angela Smith: The digital challenge is a cross-Government initiative to address social exclusion and community deprivation through the use of digital technology. The winner Sunderland is hosting a major conference in July to showcase its progress, and all 10 regional finalists continue to work with my Department as regional champions. They are developing key projects including community support for digital inclusion, the 'Homeshoring' call centre model to create jobs in deprived areas and work to explore the environmental impact of technology.

Green Belt

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2007,  Official Report, column 119W, on green belt, what the net change in the area of designated green belt over the period 2003 to 2006 was, broken down by region of the UK.

Yvette Cooper: The net changes, by region, in the areas of designated green belt are set out in the following table. The 2003 figures for London and south-east include 47,300 hectares of green belt in New Forest district council and Test Valley borough council which were re-designated as New Forest National Park in 2005. Leaving aside the New Forest there was an overall national increase in green belt land of about 7,500 hectares between 2003 and 2006. It is the responsibility of planning authorities to establish or review green belt boundaries through the plan making process.
	
		
			  Areas of designated green belt land by region 
			  Region  2003 area  2006 area  Change  Percentage  c hange 
			 North-east 66,300 71,910 5,580 8.41 
			 North-west 260,610 260,310 -300 -0.12 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 262,640 264,930 2,290 0.87 
			 East Midlands 79,520 78,900 -620 -0.78 
			 West Midlands 269,140 269,256 116 0.04 
			 East Anglia 26,690 26,302 -388 -1.45 
			 London/wider south-east (excluding New Forest) 553,170 553,886 716 0.12 
			 South-west 106,180 106,330 150 0.14 
			  
			 England(1) (excluding New Forest) 1,624,280 1,631,824 7,544 0.45 
			 (1) In 2005, the green belt land in New Forest DC and Test Valley BC (47,300 hectares) was designated as part of New Forest National Park. The 2003 figure excludes this figure for true comparison.

Green Belt

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes have been made in the Government's policy on the protection of the greenbelt surrounding conurbations in the south-east of England over the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: National planning policies on green belts, as set out in Planning Policy Guidance note 2 (PPG2), are essentially unchanged from those published in 1995.
	Green belt boundaries are determined in plans drawn up by local planning authorities. Government policy in PPG2 states that changes to boundaries should be made only in exceptional circumstances when those plans are being reviewed.
	The Government are committed to the principles of the green belt and will make no fundamental change to planning policy as set out in Planning Policy Guidance note 2.

Regional Planning and Development: Blackpool

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government who is represented on the Blackpool task force she announced on 28 March 2007; what progress has been made in the work of the task force; what additional support has been provided through the task force  (a) by her Department and ( b) other Departments; and what the nature is of such support.

Phil Woolas: The Blackpool task force comprises representatives from; the North West Development Agency; Government Office for the North West; Blackpool Urban Regeneration Company; North West Business Link, English Partnerships and Blackpool borough council.
	The work is progressing well, with a report expected to be presented to Ministers by 28 June. The recommendations within the report will reflect the needs of Blackpool and the Regional Economic and Spatial Strategies. The task force has significant support from Communities and Local Government through the regional agencies.
	The task force was set up to reflect regional and local knowledge with staff being drawn from relevant agencies and organisations. Government Ministers will respond to the recommendations within the report as appropriate to their own Departments.
	Communities and Local Government has committed 1 million to the task force and has also made up to 2 million available in the current year through English Partnerships, subject to the quality of the proposals made, to enable an early start on housing and other work to regenerate the inner area.

Unitary Councils

David Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether parish councils are included as partners and stakeholders to be consulted on any proposed unitary structure.

Phil Woolas: Yes.

HEALTH

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to discourage binge-drinking.

Caroline Flint: In the Government's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy, published in 2004, binge drinkers were a key target audience for new messages to be targeted by Government in their communications. This supported a wider programme of action by the Home Office to bear down on alcohol-related antisocial behaviour involving young people.
	As a result, the Department launched Know Your Limits, the Government's first national campaign regarding alcohol. It focuses on young people who binge drink because research shows that 18 to 24-year-olds are most likely to drink irresponsibly and cause harm to themselves and others. Evaluation of the campaign demonstrated that it has been highly effective in raising awareness and has had a high level of recall among young people.
	The Government's renewed alcohol strategy, Safe. Sensible. Social. The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy was published on 5 June 2007, and contains a detailed programme of work to minimise the health harms, violence and antisocial behaviour associated with alcohol, while ensuring that people are able to enjoy alcohol safely and responsibly.
	To help deliver this commitment, the Government are committed to continuing its investment in the Know Your Limits campaign and will run activity before peak drinking times, such as Christmas and new year. We will also seek ways to broaden and widen the audience reach.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government are taking to address alcohol abuse among  (a) children and  (b) adults.

Caroline Flint: We are preventing the sale of alcohol to children by cracking down on irresponsible retailers and working with the alcohol industry to reduce underage sales of alcoholwhile continuing to educate youngsters about the harms, both physical and social, of alcohol abuse.
	The Government's renewed alcohol strategy, Safe. Sensible. Social. The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy was published on 5 June 2007, and contains a detailed programme of work to minimise the health harms, violence and antisocial behaviour associated with alcohol, while ensuring that people are able to enjoy alcohol safely and responsibly.

Blood: Contamination

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice her Department has given to clinicians asked to give evidence assurances to the inquiry chaired by Lord Archer into contaminated blood and blood products; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: None.

Blood: Contamination

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will ensure that the revised drug strategy includes a strong commitment to reducing the transmission of blood borne viruses including  (a) improved access to testing and treatment and  (b) setting clear targets to ensure delivery.

Caroline Flint: A consultation document on the new Drug Strategy will be launched shortly. A commitment to harm reduction will certainly be an important part of the Strategy. On 22 May this year, I launched the Department's action plan, Reducing Drug-related Harm, signalling the Government's continuing commitment to prioritise treatment in tackling the harms of drug misuse.
	The action plan sets out the broad stream of action to be taken in England to enhance harm reduction activities within the drug treatment sector, with the aim of progressively reducing the number of drug misusers either dying through a drug-related death or contracting blood-borne virus infections.

Blood: Contamination

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many of the documents rediscovered by her Department as referred to in the Review of Documentation relating to the Safety of Blood Products 1970-1985  (a) have yet to be made publicly available and  (b) relate to AIDS/HIV; if she will release all such documents to Lord Archer's inquiry into this matter; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how many of the documents that were rediscovered by her Department as referred to in the Review of Documentation relating to the Safety of Blood Products 1970 to 1985 relate to Non A Non B Hepatitis; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Review of Documentation Relating to the Safety of Blood Products 1970-1985 (Non A-Non B Hepatitis) (NANBH) identified 56 previously unpublished documents that relate to NANBH. These were released with the review on the 22 May 2007.
	The review identifies just over 4,600 documents that have yet to be made publicly available, and approximately 42 per cent. of these have been identified as relating to HIV/AIDS. Lord Archer has been advised that we propose to release these documents in line with the Freedom of Information Act.

Blood Transfusions

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to provide  (a) ethryropoietins and  (b) other alternatives to blood transfusions to appropriate patients.

Caroline Flint: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 2 May 2007,  Official Report, columns 1771-72W.

Blood Transfusions

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 2 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1772W, on blood transfusions, what steps she is taking to provide treatment to patients who cannot have blood transfusions who are suffering from chemotherapy-induced anaemia.

Caroline Flint: The treatment of individual patients remains a matter for their clinical team who will base the treatment on the most appropriate clinical evidence, and the wishes of the patient.

Bone Diseases: Medical Treatments

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what guidance she has issued to trusts on whether they should continue to fund anti-TNF treatments for ankylosing spondylitis prior to the results of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's appraisal of anti-TNFs being made available;
	(2)  for what reasons the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's appraisal of anti-TNFs treatment for ankylosing spondylitis has been delayed.

Caroline Flint: Funding for licensed treatments should not be withheld because guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is unavailable. In December 2006, we issued good practice guidance which asks national health service bodies to continue with local arrangements for the managed introduction of new technologies where guidance from NICE is not available at the time the treatment or technology first became available.
	In February 2007, NICE's appraisal committee commissioned further analysis to inform its appraisal of adalimumab, etanercept and infliximab for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis. NICE are now expecting to publish final guidance to the NHS in June 2007.

Care Homes: Drinking Water

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps have been taken since October 2005 to ensure that fresh drinking water is available free of charge to care home residents throughout the day;
	(2)  what steps have been taken since October 2006 to ensure that care standards require that fresh drinking water is  (a) available and  (b) regularly offered to care home residents throughout the day; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Regulation 16 of the Care Homes Regulations requires care homes to provide, in adequate quantities, suitable, wholesome and nutritious food which is varied and properly prepared and available at such time as may reasonably be required by service users. Food, in the regulations, includes drink.
	Standard 15 of the National Minimum Standards (NMS) for Care Homes for Older People includes the requirements that:
	service users receive a varied, appealing, wholesome and nutritious diet, which is suited to individual assessed and recorded requirements, and that meals are taken in a congenial setting and at flexible times; and
	hot and cold drinks and snacks are available at all times and offered regularly.
	The NMS for Care Homes for Older People were originally issued in 2002; no changes have been made to them since October 2005.
	The Food Standards Agency (FSA) published nutrient and food based advice for those providing food in care homes in October 2006. Copies are available in the Library. The advice includes guidance on appropriate nutrient intakes, healthy eating, allergy and food hygiene tips. There is also an example menu plan, to help caterers for care homes follow the guidance, with a technical report showing how the menus follow FSA advice.
	The example menus include recommendations to make water available at all eating occasions. Government advice is that we need to drink six to eight glasses of fluid every day. It is therefore implicit that care homes should be making water freely available throughout the day.
	The advice documents, Nutrient and food based Guidelines for UK Institutions (October 2006), Food served to Older People in Residential Care (October 2006) and Example Menus for Care Homes (August 2006) are also available on the FSA's website at
	www.food.gov.uk/healthiereating/nutritioncommunity/care.

Community Care: Fees and Charges

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made since the introduction of Fairer Charging Policies for Home Care and non-residential Social ServicesGuidance for Councils with Social Services Responsibilities of the impact on home care service users in England of the ability of local authorities with social services responsibilities to set their own charging schemes for home care services.

Ivan Lewis: The Department has not made any assessment. It is for councils to decide on how to set charges for non-residential social services. The legal basis is that charges generally should be reasonable, and that no one should be asked to pay more than they reasonably can.
	Until the guidance on home care charges, Fairer Charging Policies for Home Care and other non-residential Social Services, was implemented, councils with social services responsibilities operated under few constraints or guidelines on how to charge for home care and practice varied widely. Fairer Charging Policies is statutory guidance, issued under section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970; councils must have regard to it.
	The guidance, which was issued in 2001 and amended in 2003 to reflect the introduction of pension credit, does not seek to change councils' power to charge, or not, for services. It seeks to ensure that, where councils do charge, this will be based on fairer, well designed charging policies. In particular, it aims to ensure that service users on low incomes are protected from charging and that any charges levied on disability benefits are subject to an assessment of disability costs, to ensure their reasonableness.
	Local authorities have discretion as to whether they charge people receiving benefits for domiciliary care or not. However, if they do decide to do so, the guidance states very clearly that service users should not have their incomes reduced below basic levels of income support or the guarantee credit of pension credit, plus a buffer of 25 per cent., as a result of charges.

Community Hospitals

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many community hospitals  (a) closed and  (b) opened in (i) rural and (ii) non-rural areas in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: This information is not collected centrally. The Government are committed to ensuring more health services are delivered in community settings and are making an additional 750 million worth of capital funding available to support the development of community hospitals and services.

Dental Services: Cornwall

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 24 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1504W, on dental services: Cornwall, what assessment she has made of the likely effect on dental services should Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust decide not to comply with the NHS Litigation Authority for the determination of contract activity for dental practices in Cornwall; and what preparations she has made.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 11 June 2007
	Determinations of the National Health Service Litigation Authority are binding on primary care trusts (PCTs). We understand that Cornwall and Isles of Scilly PCT is discussing with its local dental providers how to give effect to a recent NHS Litigation Authority decision. PCTs are responsible locally for assessing dental service needs and developing services to reflect these needs.

Haemophilia

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the Service Level Agreement is for the provision of Recombinant Factor VIII in each strategic health authority in England.

Caroline Flint: Funding for the provision of Recombinant Factor VIII for each strategic health authority (SHA) is in the SHA bundle, that incorporates a number of budgets formerly managed directly by the Department. The value of the SHA bundle for 2007-08 is 6,945.78 million, and was announced in the NHS Operating Framework that was published on 11 December to the NHS. Allocations are made direct to SHAs, and they manage the distribution of funds among the different programmes, including for Recombinant Factor VIII, taking account of local circumstances.

Health Hazards: Lighting

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of  (a) the nature of the medical conditions and  (b) the number of people suffering from such medical conditions which can be exacerbated by light emitted from energy saving light bulbs.

Ivan Lewis: It is known that some people living with lupus and epilepsy, and other long-term conditions, may be affected by energy saving light bulbs. We have made no assessment of the number of such people affected.

Health Hazards: Mobile Phones

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent studies her Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) received on the potential health hazards from (i) mobile phone masts and (ii) handheld mobile phones; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Stewart Report in 2000 comprehensively reviewed the scientific literature and concluded that
	the balance of evidence to date suggests that exposures below international guidelines do not cause health effects to the general population
	(www.iegmp.org.uk). Handheld mobile phones and base station installations in the United Kingdom are designed to comply with international exposure guidelines. The Stewart Report, however, also recommended further research as part of an overall precautionary approach to the use of mobile phone technology pending the availability of more robust scientific research results.
	The independently managed Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) programme, jointly funded by Government and industry, was set up in 2001 in response to the Stewart Report recommendations. It is currently supporting a number of studies into the possible health effects of technology relating to masts (base stations) and handheld mobile phones. These studies, some in progress and some already published, are described on the MTHR website at
	www.mthr.org.uk.
	Research on the potential health effects from mobile phone technology is evaluated periodically by the Health Protection Agency's Radiation Protection Division. The report entitled Mobile Phones and Health 2004 (Documents of the NRPB, Volume 15, No. 5) is available in the Library and at
	www.hpa.org.uk/radiation.

Health Hazards: Radiation

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when 140 Osier Crescent, London N10 was last tested for polonium; and with what result.

Tony McNulty: I have been asked to reply.
	This is now a matter for the local authority, but we understand Haringey council has indicated that 140 Osier Crescent was last tested for polonium on 25 May 2007.
	They are currently awaiting the results, which will be placed in the public domain when they are available.

Human Embryo Experiments

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  for what reasons she proposes to exclude pure hybrids from the licensing regime proposed in Clause 17 and Schedule 2 of the draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill;
	(2)  on what basis she proposes that the mixing of human and animal gametes will be allowed for the purpose of testing fertility and normality of human sperm under Schedule 2, paragraph 6 of the draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill.

Caroline Flint: Under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, the mixing of human sperm and animal eggs is only permitted, for assessment of the fertility of normality of sperm, or research aiming to improve the assessment of the fertility or normality of sperm. Such testing and research involves analysis of the cellular processes which take place between the point of sperm penetration, and first cell division of the embryo. The Act thus states that any embryo created using this technique must be destroyed no later than at the two cell stage.
	The Government believe there is, at present, a lack of merit in relaxing the current limitation the development of true hybrids.
	The Government indicated in the introduction to the draft Bill that they intend to accept the principle that legislation should provide for certain inter-species embryoscybrids, human-animal transgenic embryos and human-animal chimerasto be authorised by research licence.
	The Bill will have the flexibility for affirmative regulations to allow the creation both of new types of inter-species embryos and of true hybrids to be authorised by research licence if necessary in the light of evidence of the need for it.

Hyperactivity: Drugs

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in  (a) England and  (b) Maidenhead were prescribed methylphenidate drugs in each year between 1997 and 2006.

Caroline Flint: The Department does not hold data on the number of patients prescribed methylphenidate hydrochloride drugs. In terms of the number of prescription items dispensed in the community in England, I refer the right hon. Lady to the answer given on 9 May,  Official Report, column 279W.
	Data on the number of prescription items prescribed in the community and then dispensed are collected at primary care trust (PCT) level. The equivalent PCTs to the constituency of Maidenhead are the combination of Berkshire East PCT (formerly Bracknell Forest, Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead and Slough) and Berkshire West PCT (formerly Newbury and Community, Reading and Wokingham) created in October 2006.
	Data for these combined PCTs are provided in the following table.
	
		
			   Thousand 
			   Number of prescription items dispensed 
			 2003 4.9 
			 2004 5.6 
			 2005 5.7 
			 2006 6.9 
			  Note: Local data are from the prescription pricing division's (PPD's) prescribing analysis and cost tool (PACT) system. This is held for a maximum of 60 months only, therefore data areprovided from 2003 onwards.  Source: Prescribing Analysis and Cost Tool (PACT) system

Incontinence: Medical Equipment

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1130W, on incontinence and stoma appliances, when she expects the evaluation of the responses to the consultation to be completed; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: It has been announced that due to the volume and complexity of responses received to the consultations that closed on 2 April 2007, the Department has decided that it needs more time to analyse the information provided. Consequently, no changes will be implemented in July 2007 as proposed in the consultation documents. Moreover, we do not expect that the review will be completed before the end of the year.

Insulin

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library a copy of the draft proposal for submission to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence asking the institute to consider including a comparison of the different types of insulin in its future work programme, as referred to in the letter of 19 December 2006 to the hon. Member for Torbay from the Minister for quality and delivery.

Caroline Flint: The National Clinical Director for Diabetes, Dr. Sue Roberts, has convened a liaison group to inform the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE) work programme on a range of diabetes issues. This approach has been taken to support NICE in addressing and reflecting the needs of the diabetes community.
	The group is due to meet shortly, and will discuss a range of diabetes issues, including the therapeutic use of insulins.

Internet: Health Hazards

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the health effects of wireless internet networks, with particular reference to those in schools.

Caroline Flint: The independent Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation (AGNIR) undertook a comprehensive assessment of radio waves and health in 2003. Its report, entitled Health Effects from Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields, was published by the then National Radiological Protection Board (now the Radiation Protection Division of the Health Protection Agency (HPA)). Copies are available in the Library and on the HPA website at:
	www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/publications/documents_of_nrpb/abstracts/absd14-2.htm
	All devices that emit radio waves (such as wireless internet) should be used in compliance with the exposure guidelines published by the International Commission on Non-ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) as specified in the European Recommendation on limiting public exposure to electromagnetic fields (EC/519/1999).
	Information about wireless devices and health is available on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Aboutus/MinistersandDepartmentLeaders/ChiefMedicalOfficer/Features/FeaturesArchive/Browsable/DH_5369553
	In response to recent media and public concern about the use of wireless computer networks in schools the HPA has provided further advice at:
	www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/understand/radiation_topics/emf/wifi.htm

IVF

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care trusts provide in vitro fertilisation on the NHS.

Caroline Flint: This information is not collected centrally as a matter of routine. We are aware that most primary care trusts (PCT) are providing at least one cycle of in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust is now restarting the provision of IVF following a temporary period of suspension. We are working with the patient support organisation Infertility Network UK to help PCTs share best practice in the provision of fertility services and engage with fertility patients in the planning and prioritisation of services.

Medical Equipment

Dai Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment her Department has made of the extent of implementation of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency guidelines on managing medical devices by NHS trusts;
	(2)  what responsibility the Healthcare Commission has to report  (a) on and  (b) to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency on the compliance of NHS trusts with guidelines on managing medical devices;
	(3)  whether the Healthcare Commission has powers to enforce Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency guidelines on managing medical devices.

Caroline Flint: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) published its updated Device Bulletin on the management of medical devices in November 2006. The MHRA does not have powers to enforce its advice, which is for guidance only; the Healthcare Commission does not have powers to enforce MHRA advice either. It is the responsibility of each NHS organisation to ensure that appropriate governance systems are in place to ensure that medical devices are managed and used correctly.
	The Healthcare Commission assesses the performance of the NHS against the standards set out in Standards for Better Health (Department of Health 2004). In carrying out its assessments, the Commission looks specifically at, among other aspects of safety, the management of risks associated with the acquisition, use, and proper decontamination of medical devices in accordance with guidance issued by the MHRA.
	If an organisation is found not to be complying with a core standard, it is the responsibility of the relevant strategic health authority (SHA) in the first instance to support it to achieve the necessary improvement. In exceptional individual cases where an organisation's failure to comply with a compulsory core standard is of significant and sufficient concern, and where the Department and the SHA agree that departmental engagement can add value, the Department would work with the SHA to ensure that improvement was made.
	The Healthcare Commission reports to the Secretary of State. The Commission publishes its assessment of NHS performance in its annual health check; performance ratings for 2005-06 were published in October 2006 and are publicly available on the Commission's website at www.healthcarecommission.org.uk.

Medical Records: EC Countries

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has  (a) to permit and  (b) to implement the transfer of patient information between member states of the European Union, as referred to in paragraph 3.1.1. of the European Commission's Consultation on Community Action on Health Services, published on 26 September 2006.

Caroline Flint: In collaboration with the European Commission and other European health administrations we are exploring ways in which citizens could, if they so choose, make key health data available when seeking treatment in other European states, subject to stringent confidentiality safeguards. This work is at a very early stage and complex technical and information governance issues have yet to be resolved. In particular, any transfer of patient information would need to be in line with the undertakings given in the NHS Care Record Guarantee, and subject to compliance with the European Union Data Protection Directive.
	The consultation acknowledges work that is already under way in some member states in developing interoperability standards for electronic medical records. The Department's NHS Connecting for Health agency is in fact the global leader in healthcare interoperability. NHS Connecting for Health have developed the message implementation manual which uses the international standard HL7V3 to define a standards-based approach to clinical message interchange. These messages are used by the systems which have been through the NHS Connecting for Health national integration centre, to create the largest range of heterogeneous interoperable systems in healthcare globally, with in excess of 100 certified systems. This interoperability framework is underpinned by a robust and resilient messaging infrastructure, known as the spine, which already supports the transfer of many millions of messages every week across the national health service.
	Another key aspect of healthcare system interoperability is the consistent use of a clinical terminology. NHS Connecting for Health have been instrumental in the establishment, and are a founding member of the Standards Development Organisation, which has acquired the intellectual property rights for SNOMED-CT, an international standard for codifying clinical data.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when her Department will respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Billericay of 16 May 2007 on the proposed Independent Sector Treatment Centre for Basildon.

Andy Burnham: The reply to the hon. Gentleman's letter of 14 March, which was the subject of his further letter, was sent on 16 May.

Members: Correspondence

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps were taken by her Department in response to the letter from the Head of the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre at the Public Health Laboratory Service dated 9 May 1983; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Review of Documentation Relating to the Safety of Blood Products 1970-1985 (Non-A, Non-B Hepatitis) was released on 22 May, together with the references identified in the review. An additional 4,600 documents were identified during the review, including those relating to HIV/AIDS, and it has been agreed that these documents will be released in line with the Freedom of Information Act. Numerous documents are already in the public domain.
	The issue of AIDS and licensed blood products was discussed at the Committee on Safety of Medicines Sub-Committee on Biological Products at a meeting on 13 July 1983, at which the Head of the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre at the Public Health Laboratory Service was present. A copy of these minutes, together with a paper considered by the Committee on Safety of Medicines, are in the public domain.
	Any further documents relevant to action in relation to the letter from the Head of the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre will be released with the documents currently being prepared for release.

NHS: Databases

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which data set change notices were issued under her authority to NHS organisations in each year since 1997-98.

Caroline Flint: The NHS Information Standards Board has responsibility for assuring and signing off information standards for use in the national health service in England. The Board has had direct responsibility for the publication of approved information standardsData Set Change Notices (DSCNs)since October 2005. The accountability of the Board's chairman, Professor Martin Severs, is to the NHS chief executive.
	A table of all DSCNs published since 1997 has been placed in the Library. The number of DSCNs published in each year is shown in the table.
	
		
			  DSCNs 
			   Yearly totals 
			 1997 47 
			 1998 37 
			 1999 36 
			 2000 19 
			 2001 45 
			 2002 55 
			 2003 37 
			 2004 30 
			 2005 19 
			 2006 21 
			 2007(1) 12 
			 Total 358 
			 (1) To date.

NHS: Databases

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2007,  Official Report, column 792W, on NHS: databases, how often each set of data required for collection at an other frequency is required to be supplied.

Andy Burnham: The available information is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Code (where available)  Collection title  Source  Frequency 
			 SITREP Sitreps weekly and daily National health service trust (NHST) Daily counts and weekly summary 
			  Healthcare Commission Assessment of Existing Targets Primary care trust (PCT) Daily counts and weekly summary 
			  National Renal Dataset NHST Ongoing collection based on extraction from clinical records 
			 SABS Safety Alert Broadcast System NHST, strategic health authority (SHA) When a safety alert occurs 
			 HCAI Surveillance of healthcare associated infections NHST Ongoing online data entry 
			  National Joint Registry NHST As required following hip and knee operations 
			  Fire Incidents and Unwanted Fire Signal Data NHST When an incident occurs 
			  Non-medical Device Defects and Failures Reporting System NHST When a defect or failure occurs 
			  Adults and Older People: Mental Health Data CollectionsStreamlining PCT Ongoing online data entry 
			  Weekly Access (inc PTLs) NHST Weekly 
			 MHMDS Mental Health Minimum Dataset (MHMDS) NHST Quarterly 
			  National Cancer Dataset Waiting times subset NHST Quarterly 
			 LDPR-P and PDPR-C Local Delivery Plans Return NHST Quarterly 
			  NHS Stop Smoking Services Quarterly Monitoring Return PCT, SHA Quarterly 
			  Mandatory Enhanced Surveillance System (MESS) renal surveillance voluntary data NHST Quarterly 
			 KC65 Colposcopy clinics, referrals, treatments and outcomes NHST Quarterly 
			  Quarterly Inpatient waiting times return (Stock) (day case admissions) Commissioner and Provider NHST, PCT, SHA Quarterly 
			  Quarterly Outpatient waiting times return (Stock) Commissioner and Provider NHST, PCT, SHA Quarterly 
			  Quarterly In-patient waiting times return (Stock) (ordinary admissions)Commissioner and Provider NHST Quarterly 
			  Quarterly Inpatient Activity (Flow)Commissioner and Provider NHST, PCT, SHA Quarterly 
			  Quarterly Outpatient Flow returnProvider NHST Quarterly 
			  Monitoring Revisions to new GP Contract FIMS(FHS)4 and PFR1A-D data collection from PCTs 2006-07 PCT Quarterly 
			  Radiotherapy Contract Data Set (RT CDS) NHST Quarterly 
			 FIS(FHS) 2 General Dental Services NHST, PCT, SHA Quarterly 
			  Integrated Drug Treatment System for prisons Clinical Activity NHST Quarterly 
			  Prison Healthcare Performance Monitoring: Star Ratings PCT Quarterly 
			 PCT06 PCT Capital Expenditure NHST, PCT, SHA Quarterly 
			 COVER Childhood Immunisation Data NHST, PCT Quarterly 
			 QMAE Quarterly Monitoring of Accident and Emergency NHST, PCT Quarterly 
			  Junior Doctors' Hours NHST, PCT Biannual 
			  Monitoring PPF Cancer Targets (T10 and T1l) SHA Biannual 
			  National Programme for ITBaseline NHS Tracker NHST, SHA Biannual 
			  NHS staff engagement and attitudes towards the NHS NHST Biannual 
			 KH03a Open and Staffed Adult Critical Care Beds NHST Biannual 
			  National Capabilities Survey NHST, PCT, SHA Biennial 
			  Earnings Survey PCT Biennial

NHS: Drugs

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the infrastructure payment for services proposed in her Department's consultation, Arrangements for the remuneration of services relating to appliances within Part IX of the Drug Tariff, is proposed to apply to dispensing appliance contractors differently dependent on their output; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: In reviewing the arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff, it has always been one of the Department's stated objectives to ensure fair remuneration of valued services provided by the pharmacy and appliance contractors.
	In the consultation document entitled Arrangements for the remuneration of services relating to appliances within Part IX of the Drug Tariff, it was proposed that dispensing appliance contractors would receive a banded infrastructure payment depending on the volume of prescription items dispensed in one particular month. The purpose of this payment is to cover elements of service that are less volume-related compared to dispensing, such as operating within a clinical governance framework, requirements relating to dispensing repeatable prescriptions and provision of clinical information.
	Views were sought on this proposal and the consultation closed on 2 April 2007. The Department is still evaluating the responses and it is not anticipated that the overall review will be completed until the end of the year.

NHS: Drugs

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans she has to trial the drug PTC124;
	(2)  what plans she has for fast tracking new drugs and therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Ivan Lewis: PTC124 is a drug currently undergoing clinical trials in the United States for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. PTC Therapeutics, the company behind this drug, has not currently organised clinical trials in the United Kingdom.
	We have no specific plans to fast track new drugs or therapies for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has not received an application to licence PTC124.

NHS: ICT

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how has been spent on IT systems in the NHS since 1997.

Caroline Flint: The information is not available in the form requested.
	Such information as is available derives from revenue expenditure reported each year since 2002-03 through a national survey of information technology investment; and from capital expenditure, including software licences, identified in national health service accounts, and as reported by foundation trusts. The figures do not include expenditure by special health authorities or central expenditure funded by the Department.
	Summary figures for the latest year for which information is available (2005-06) is contained in the reply given to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) on 5 March 2007,  Official Report, columns 1693-94W.
	Detailed information for 2005-06, including summary information for years since 2002-03, is available on the Department's NHS Connecting for Health agency website at www.connectingforhealth .nhs.uk/resources/funding and has been placed in the Library.

NHS: ICT

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of implementing the NHS IT programme has been in  (a) Surrey Primary Care Trust and  (b) England; what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of the NHS IT programme; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: Expenditure under the contracts let for the core components of the national programme for information technology in the national health service in England, as at 31 March 2007, was 1,001.5 million.
	Information about local NHS spending by primary care trusts (PCTs), NHS trusts and other NHS organisations on the national programme for information technology, to complement the investment from central funding, is not collected centrally. However, any such spending is very significantly outweighed by the savings accrued locally from participation in the programme. Most notably, some 4.5 billion has been saved by central rather than local procurement, a figure confirmed by independent industry analysts. In addition, savings have been achieved in the prices paid by the NHS for information technology goods and services due to the central buying power of NHS Connecting for Health, as well as in NHS staff time saved through using the programme's systems and services. For example, the National Audit Office have acknowledged savings of 860 million achieved through centrally negotiated enterprise wide arrangements.
	In addition, PCTs have been specifically reimbursed for funds spent on upgrading existing general practitioner practice systems to make them choose and book compliant, and funding support has also been made available to support NHS trusts deploying a choose and book compliant patient administration system.
	The successes of the national programme are visible every day of the week in hospitals, general practices and pharmacies across the NHS, and the benefits are being experienced by doctors, nurses and, most importantly, by patients. On any typical day the national programme currently enables some 120,000 prescriptions to be transmitted electronically, reducing errors and inefficiencies; 17,000 choose and book electronic bookings to be made, putting patients in charge of their care and reducing significantly the numbers not attending out-patient appointments; almost one-and-a-half million queries to be processed on the patient demographic system, ensuring receipt of around three-quarters of a million letters a year that would otherwise be posted to the wrong address and enabling patient information to be handled more efficiently; over a hundred thousand NHSMail users, each of whom has an e-mail address for life, to send one million secure e-mails, one-third of which contain confidential patient information; five new secure broadband connections to be installed; and some 30,000 general practitioners (GPs) to use the quality management analysis system (QMAS) to deliver better care to patients under the new GP contract.

NHS: ICT

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make available the gateway reviews undertaken by the Office of Government Commerce on the national programme for IT.

Caroline Flint: I have no plans to do so.

NHS: ICT

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she has taken in response to each of the recommendations of Section 9 of the National Audit Office report on the national programme for IT in the NHS.

Caroline Flint: Where the National Audit Office recommendations called for specific or new action to be taken by the Department, its NHS Connecting for Health agency, or by national health service bodies, action plans have been put in place. Progress towards the various deliverables is being routinely monitored against their respective timescales, some of which have already been achieved.
	In relation to individual recommendations, a national programme catalogue has been created and made available to all NHS organisations and staff. The purpose of the catalogue is to demonstrate how the NHS Connecting for Health products currently available support wider NHS policies and initiatives by detailing their functionality and the benefits they can deliver to patients, clinicians and organisations. Regular updates will ensure its continuing relevance and value. Work is ongoing with suppliers and the NHS to agree engineering-based timetables for delivery and to ensure that these timetables take NHS requirements into account. Governance arrangements are in place to consider any changes which impact upon local service providers in order to ensure that suppliers can achieve what is planned.
	The national programme communications strategy has been reviewed and updated. Ways of working with strategic health authority (SHA) communications leads have been agreed and implemented. A plan of key milestones for delivery of the programme is being developed for communication with NHS organisations and staff.
	NHS Connecting for Health continues its strong management of suppliers and their performance.
	The first annual benefits report, for 2006-07, will be produced in autumn 2007 to coincide with the publication of planning materials for NHS organisations. Future annual benefits reports will be produced in partnership with the strategic health authorities.
	The annual survey of NHS information management and technology expenditure is being complemented by studies of the impact of national programme deployments on local NHS IT expenditure.
	Post-implementation reviews are being carried out to identify and quantify the service and efficiency improvements of new IT systems. The Department and NHS Connecting for Health, in partnership with the SHAs, are supporting a series of benefits demonstrators at local sites that will evaluate experiences and compile evidence of benefits achieved.
	Analysis of current areas for improvement is taking place in order to produce evidence-based development plans to create sustainable capability in the NHS. A range of projects, and training and development elements, are being grouped together under a capability and capacity work stream, and the education, training and development work stream is being strengthened.
	Relevant and appropriate clinicians continue to contribute to the effective identification of requirements, design and testing of systems being delivered under the programme. NHS Connecting for Health has appointed a Chief Clinical Officer to lead the clinical engagement and clinical contribution the programme. A national clinical lead for patient safety has been appointed. Further national clinical leads are to be recruited for pharmacy, physiotherapy, mental health and midwifery. Consideration is being given to how to take on other national clinical leads to cover important areas of engagement.

NHS: Personal Records

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether patients can opt out of having their demographic details held on the NHS national data spine.

Caroline Flint: Patients registered with the national health service will not be able to prevent their basic demographic and contact details from being held within the NHS care records service (NHS CRS). The NHS has maintained registers of its service users from the earliest days of its existence to support the delivery of healthcare. A record is also kept of which general practice each patient is registered with, and reasons of efficiency and probity require this to be held centrally, for example to prevent multiple general practitioners from being paid for the same patient, and to ensure that the correct commissioning body meets the cost of care provided. A register is also needed to enable the Secretary of State to meet the obligation to provide healthcare, free at the point of contact, for those patients who are ordinarily resident in England.
	While for these reasons it is not practicable to give patients choice about whether their demographic details will be held in the system, safeguards have been built into the NHS CRS personal demographics service (PDS) which allow an individual's contact details to be hidden from NHS staff if patients request this level of protection. Access to the PDS is controlled by a member of staffs relationship with the patient, and by what they need to see to do their jobs, and is dependent on their having a current secure smartcard and a valid pass code.

NHS: Training

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to establish an Academic Health Science Centre; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The Secretary of State has given approval for Hammersmith Hospitals national health service trust and St. Mary's NHS trust to consult on a merger of the two organisations. This consultation would be the first stage of a process to create the first Academic Health Science Centre in the United Kingdom. The consultation began on 1 May 2007 and will run for three months.

Ovarian Cancer

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women in England were diagnosed with Stage  (a) 1,  (b) 2,  (c) 3 and  (d) 4 ovarian cancer in (i) the latest year for which figures are available and (ii) each of the previous five years.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 12 June 2007:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many women in England have been diagnosed with (a) Stage 1, (b) Stage 2, (c) Stage 3 and (d) Stage 4 ovarian cancer in (i) the latest year for which figures are available and (ii) each of the previous five years. (140642)
	The data item, stage, was introduced in 1993 when the cancer registration minimum data set was established by the Department of Health. There remains much variation between the eight regional cancer registries in England in the recording of stage that is likely to reflect differences in what is meant by stage, rather than real differences across England in what clinicians use to classify the patients. It is not therefore, possible to provide nationally comparable data on cancer incidence broken down by stage.
	The United Kingdom Association of Cancer Registries (UKACR) is investigating what should be counted as a complete stage in an attempt to agree on an interpretation in future. In the future, the new Cancer Registration Data Set will include stage recorded at multiple points along the patient pathway.

Oxygen: Sandwell Hospital

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health from where the oxygen cylinders at Sandwell hospital are sourced.

Caroline Flint: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency reports that BOC Medical supplies Sandwell and West Birmingham hospitals national health service trust (which is responsible for services at Sandwell hospital) with cylinders of oxygen.

Patients: Fees and Charges

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations she has received on hospital charges for headphones for bedside entertainment systems; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The Department has not received any representations on hospital charges for headphones for bedside entertainment systems.
	The three major service providers advise that they do not currently charge for headphones for use with their systems.
	If headphones were to become chargeable, it would be as a result of a commercial decision made by the service provider.

Pharmacy

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date her Department agreed plans to encourage pharmacists to carry out basic procedures like blood pressure checks and issue prescriptions.

Caroline Flint: The commissioning of national health service services such as pharmacist prescribing and routine blood pressure checks are matters for primary care trusts (PCTs) to determine. These services are local enhanced services which PCTs can commission according to their assessment of local priorities and needs, under the new community pharmacy contractual framework introduced from April 2005. Pharmacies may, in addition, offer these services privately to the public.
	The Secretary of State for Health agreed on 8 November 2005 to accept the then Committee on Safety of Medicines' recommendation that pharmacists could train to become independent prescribers. Only those pharmacists who have successfully completed a prescribing training course and been registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain as a prescriber can be commissioned by the PCT to provide this service.

Prescription Drugs: Internet

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 4 June 2007,  Official Report, column 320W, on prescription drugs: internet, how many prosecutions for the sale of prescription only medicines over the internet  (a) not under the supervision of a pharmacist and  (b) without a prescription from a prescriber have been brought in each of the last three years.

Caroline Flint: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for the regulation and control of medicines on the United Kingdom market.
	The MHRA investigates the sale and supply of medicines available through the internet as part of its statutory enforcement role. Since April 2005 there have been eight prosecutions involving prescription only and unlicensed medicines being offered for sale via the internet.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will  (a) reduce prescription costs and  (b) abolish charges completely; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Government said in their response to the Health Committee's report on national health service charges, that the Department would undertake a review of the current exemptions for prescription charges and put forward options that would be expenditure neutral for the NHS. We have undertaken to report to Parliament before the summer recess 2007.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 May 2007,  Official Report, column 422W, on prescriptions: fees and charges, what mechanisms are in place for checking a patient's entitlement to exemption when it is declared.

Caroline Flint: When a patient claims exemption from payment of national health service prescription charges, mechanisms are in place for the pharmacist or dispensing doctor to request proof of this exemption and for the patient to produce relevant evidence to support their claim, depending on the grounds of the exemption. Where this is not possible, the prescription is marked evidence not seen and dispensed for free.
	It is for the relevant primary care trust to establish whether a claim is valid. Anyone found to have wrongly claimed help with health costs will face a penalty charge and, in some cases, prosecution.

Royal Pharmaceutical Society

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role the Government expects the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) to play in public policy following the establishment of the General Pharmaceutical Council; what funding will be made available for the RPS; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Government consider it essential that an authoritative leadership body for the pharmacy profession continues to contribute to all relevant aspects of public policy development. The Pharmacy Regulation and Leadership Oversight Group will consider the financial aspects of establishing the General Pharmaceutical Council and advise Ministers accordingly.

Stem Cells: Research

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what grants were made by the Government for research into the development of treatment using  (a) embryonic stem cells and  (b) stem cells from umbilical cords and other adult stem cells in each of the last five years.

Caroline Flint: The funding for stem cell research from the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Department of Trade and Industry's technology programme for the past five years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   MRC  Department of Trade and Industry technology programme 
			 2002-03 4.5 million 0.00 
			 2003-04 14.5 million 0.00 
			 2004-05 14.2 million 5 million 
			 2005-06 Not yet available 500,000 
			 2006-07 Not yet available 3.6 million 
		
	
	Information on the type of stem cells used in such research is not held centrally and some projects include stem cells from a variety of sources. However, the MRC advised that, in the year 2004-05, 40 per cent. of its research funding was for research on adult stem cells.

vCJD

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what  (a) tests and  (b) prototype tests for the presence of vCJD in blood are (i) available and (ii) the subject of research; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: There is currently no licensed blood screening test for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD). The performance of a number of prototype vCJD assays is being evaluated, and the results of this process will be available later in the year.

vCJD: Blood Transfusion Services

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements are in place for blood specimens held by the Blood Transfusion Service to be used in research to test for vCJD; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: Access to blood samples held by the National Blood Service is subject to the approval of the service and where necessary the approval of an appropriate Research Ethics Committee.

vCJD: Blood Transfusion Services

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many requests her Department has received for blood specimens held by the Blood Transfusion Service to be used in research to test for vCJD; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: No record of requests are held by the Department, any such requests received would be referred to the National Blood Service for their consideration.

Waste Management: Health Hazards

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research has been conducted by the NHS into the potential impacts on health of moving to fortnightly collections of household rubbish.

Caroline Flint: None.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan Economic Situation

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the Government are taking to promote economic regeneration in Afghanistan.

Hilary Benn: DFID is contributing 9 million to the Government of Afghanistan to help boost legal private sector activity. This includes support to reduce red tape, improve the business environment, support the mining sector and encourage foreign investment. Of this, 1 million has been channelled through a Wold Bank-managed trust fund which provides risk guarantees to attract foreign investors. In the past year, this trust fund has supported three projects. These are expected to trigger over 13 million of investment, stimulate the cotton and pharmaceuticals sector and expand access to credit. This will help to further enhance private sector opportunities and regenerate the Afghan economy.
	In 2003, the agriculture sector accounted for over half of Afghanistan's GDP and, since the majority of Afghans are based in rural areas, agricultural performance is central to economic growth. Rural development is one of DFID's top three priority areas for investment. We are contributing 7 million to the Government of Afghanistan's national horticulture and livestock programme, which will improve incentives for private investment in these important sectors. We are also funding Government programmes to construct rural roads (18 million), and providing access to credit (20 million).

Burundi: Education

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will provide a breakdown of how the 6 million funding for education in Burundi announced on 5 April is proposed to be spent; and what the timescale is for the release of the funding.

Hilary Benn: The 6 million I announced as part of a package of support for education initiatives in post-conflict and fragile states will be spent over the next three years in support of the Government of Burundi's action plan to implement the initial priorities of their 10-year education strategy.
	The plan will meet Burundi's immediate needs in rebuilding an education system severely affected by the more than 12 years of devastating civil war, and lay the foundations for the development of an education system that can deliver equitable, high-quality education and professional training, and meet the target of primary education for all.
	The plan is expected to be finalised by September, and once endorsed by donors, submitted along with the sector strategy to the fast-track initiative (FTI) for additional financing. If fully financed, it is anticipated that almost 10,000 extra primary school classrooms will be built, over 4,000 extra primary school teachers will be trained and recruited, and that total spending on education will be more than doubled.
	The UK's funds will be pooled with those of other donors to minimise the administrative burden on the government, facilitate a strengthening of the government's capacity to deliver education services and encourage others to contribute to the reconstruction of Burundi's education system.

Crop Post Harvest

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on what date his Department commenced funding for the Crop Post Harvest programme; what his Department's total expenditure has been on the programme; which projects have been funded by the programme; which institutions are funded to carry out each project in the programme and what amounts have been allocated by his Department to each and over what period in each case; in which country each project was based; what the outcome has been of each project; what assessment he has made of the impact on host harvest crop losses and other gains; and what the closing date is for his Department's funding for the programme.

Gareth Thomas: DFID started funding the crop post harvest programme (CPHP) in April 1995. The programme was designed to run for 10 years, until March 2005. However an additional year was added from April 2005 to March 2006 to allow for greater dissemination of findings. Total expenditure was 28,529,870.
	A total of 170 projects were completed up until 2005 and a full list with details of each project is available at:
	http://www.cphp.uk.com/projects/default.asp?step=11
	or through DFID's searchable research database at:
	http://www.research4development.info/index.asp.
	CPHP was evaluated as part of the overall evaluation of the renewable natural resources research strategy (RNRRS 1995-2006) by an external independent team which found the outputs of the CPHP to be:
	...impressive and demonstrate well-planned and conducted studies. (annex 10, page 355).
	The full report is available at:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/aboutdfid/performance/files/ev659.asp.

Departments: Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was raised from the sale of departmental property in each of the last five years.

Gareth Thomas: The following amounts were raised from the sale of departmental property in each of the last five financial years:
	
		
			
			 2006-07 0 
			 2005-06 176,205 
			 2004-05 0 
			 2003-04 0 
			 2002-03 0

Departments: Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was received by his Department from the letting of its properties in each of the last five years.

Gareth Thomas: The following amounts were received by the Department from the letting of its properties in each of the last five financial years:
	
		
			
			 2006-07 4,459,797 
			 2005-06 4,351,023 
			 2004-05 4,246,796 
			 2003-04 4,144,926 
			 2002-03 4,046,023

Departments: Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what properties his Department  (a) owned and  (b) rented in each of the last five years.

Gareth Thomas: The Department has owned the following properties in each of the last five years (all of the properties were owned for the entire period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2007 unless otherwise stated):
	 Within the UK:
	Abercrombie House, East Kilbride, G75 SEA.
	 Overseas:
	20 Epping road, Harare, Zimbabwe;
	11 Hendrikz Way, Harare, Zimbabwe;
	11 Brentford road, Harare, Zimbabwe;
	seven residential properties in Lilongwe, Malawi, purchased November 2002;
	one residential property in Lilongwe, Malawi, purchased March 2004;
	TCO House, Honiara, Solomon Islands, sold January 2006.
	The Department has rented the following properties in the UK in each of the last five years (all of the properties were rented for the entire period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2007 unless otherwise stated):
	 Within the UK:
	1 Palace street, London, SW1 5HE;
	20 Victoria street, London, SW1H 0NF. The lease on 20 Victoria street was not renewed by DFID on its expiry on 25 December 2006;
	Chatham Maritime, Kent, ME4 4TB;
	43 Fairfield Place, East Kilbride, G74 5LP.
	 Overseas:
	We cannot provide a list of overseas properties rented without incurring disproportionate costs.

Departments: Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent estimate has been made of the value of his Department's property portfolio.

Gareth Thomas: Abercrombie House was most recently valued on 31 March 2006. Total valuation was 9,250,000, including land valued at 1,575,000.
	Overseas properties were most recently valued at 31 March 2007. Three properties in Zimbabwe were valued at 252,000. Eight properties in Malawi were valued at 475,000.

Departments: Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the cost of leasing buildings and office space was for  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies in each of the last five years.

Gareth Thomas: The information requested is as follows.
	 (a) The cost of leasing buildings and office space for the Department, both in the UK and overseas, in each of the last five financial years was as follows:
	
		
			
			 2006-07 19,947,000 
			 2005-06 20,459,000 
			 2004-05 21,031,000 
			 2003-04 16,700,000 
			 2002-03 17,857,000 
		
	
	 (b) The Department did not have any agency bodies in the last five financial years.

Developing Countries: Climate Change

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking ahead of the forthcoming G8 meeting to ensure that consideration of the effect of climate change on the world's poorest nations is integrated into the World Bank energy policy.

Hilary Benn: Climate change is likely to have the greatest impact on the poor, with Africa being particularly vulnerable, even though it has not caused the problem. A high priority for DFID is to work with our international partners, including the World Bank, to help reduce man-made climate change as well as help developing countries adapt to some of the inevitable impacts.
	At the Gleneagles summit in 2005, the UK secured G8 agreement that the World Bank should lead on establishing a new Clean Energy for Development Investment Framework (CEIF) that would operate across the international financing system. The aim of this framework is to accelerate and catalyse public and private sector investments in cleaner energy in developing countries.
	The CEIF has three main parts: improving access to energy, especially in Africa; promoting transitions to low-carbon energy, especially in large emerging economies; and helping countries adapt to climate variability and change.
	The first phase of this work is under way with the World Bank and regional development banks, like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Inter-American and Asian Development Banks. They are developing work programmes to help their borrowers tackle climate change. Each bank is tailoring its approaches and initiatives to the conditions and challenges of its region and its specific experience and comparative advantage. The World Bank is continuing to work on exploring financial options to support clean energy investments.
	The second phase in implementing the World Bank Action Plan for the CEIF will be reported at the G8 Summit in 2008, to be hosted by Japan. The World Bank has already increased its commitments and resources for clean energy investments. A recent World Bank report shows that in 2006 the Bank increased the financing of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects by 45 per cent., to a total of $668 million, exceeding the 20 per cent. annual increase target set in 2004.
	We are also working with the World Bank on the adaptation part of the CEIF. For instance, future climate change may affect rainfall patterns, which in turn could directly affect electricity generation from hydropower schemes, so the work involves climate change risk screening. The aim is to make sure that investments, including those in the energy sector, take full account of the potential future impact of climate change and establish what it will cost to adapt.
	We are looking for a range of G8 outcomes on energy and climate change this year. This includes an invitation to the World Bank to undertake pilot schemes to reduce emissions from deforestation in developing countries. On this, the World Bank is developing a proposal for a Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) to provide support for pilot schemes in developing countries. This follows on from pilot studies to determine low-carbon opportunities in middle-income countries.
	Both the 2005 Gleneagles Plan of Action and the 2006 St. Petersburg Summit endorsed the need to improve energy efficiency. We would like to see faster implementation of energy-efficiency options and are working towards agreement on this at the G8 in Germany this year.

Developing Countries: Education

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made to ensure that support is delivered effectively and flexibly to conflict and post-conflict states through the Fast Track Initiative since the Education Beyond Borders initiative was announced on 5 April 2007.

Gareth Thomas: The Education for All Fast Track Initiative (EFA-FTI) is an international partnership currently supported by 15 contributing donors.
	The UK has been leading an FTI Fragile States Task Team to explore how the FTI might better support education in fragile states. The Task Team met on 21 May and subsequently reported to the FTI's Technical Meeting, in Bonn on 24-25 May.
	The issue of fragile states and fragility was also considered at meetings of the Expanded Catalytic Fund Strategy Committee, the Education Programme Development Fund (EPDF) Task Force and the Capacity Development Task Team. Donors acknowledged that countries with weak capacity but strong political will need support to access funds to deliver education services while developing their sector plans.
	The Technical Meeting agreed broad endorsement for extraordinary support for such countries and that an interim means of support is needed beyond the existing FTI architecture. The Fragile States Task Team is developing a framework that could be used by governments and donors to measure a country's progress towards FTI endorsement and whether interim financing could be used effectively. It will be piloted in Somalia by UNICEF Somalia.
	As there is no internationally agreed list of conflict and post-conflict countries, the FTI Fragile States Task Team has agreed to use the definition of fragile states from the World Bank's 2007 Global Monitoring Report.(1) The FTI Partnership is already providing direct support to a number of countries regarded as fragile states. The FTI has endorsed eight such countries (Cambodia, Djibouti, The Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste), of which six have benefited from the FTI's Catalytic Fund. 11 countries (Afghanistan, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Djibouti, Haiti, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Timor-Leste) have benefitted from the EPDF. On 23 May the Catalytic Fund Strategy Committee approved an allocation of US $13.9 million for Sierra Leone for 2007-09.
	Sixteen countries regarded as fragile states (Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Solomon Islands, Togo, Vanuatu) are working towards FTI endorsement during 2007-08.
	(1)http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTGLOBALMONITOR/EXTGLOMONREP2007

Developing Countries: Education

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations he has received on the Make A Teacher campaign.

Gareth Thomas: The Global Campaign for Education (GCE) hold an annual Week of Action aimed at raising awareness of the importance of Education for All. The 2006 Week of Action (24-30 April 2006) included a focus on the global shortage of teachers. Following the Week of Action many schools across the United Kingdom discussed the issues and subsequently raised their concerns with their local Members of Parliament or through direct correspondence. My Department received about 80 letters from schools. Most of the letters asked the Government to help provide more teachers for those children living in poorer parts of the world.
	It is estimated that 18 million extra teachers will be needed globally to provide every child with a quality primary education. Teachers are vital to quality education and are important if we are to achieve the millennium development goal of universal primary education by 2015.
	Last year, the UK Government committed 8.5 billion to be spent over the next 10 years in support of education in developing countries. This long-term commitment will help to recruit and train more teachers, get more pupils into and completing school and improve the quality of education being provided.
	The GCE's 2007 Week of Action took place on 23-29 April. The theme was Education as a Human Right. I look forward to receiving further letters from school children concerned about education for children in poor countries.

Developing Countries: Poverty

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made on meeting the 2005 G8 commitments on poverty relief; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: There has been some good progress in delivering the commitments made at Gleneagles and elsewhere in July 2005. DFID submits a regular report to Parliament detailing the UK's progress against agreed milestones. Globally there has been a significant rise in global aid. It has increased by 25 per cent. to just over $100 billion since 2004.
	At this year's summit there was important progress especially on education and HIV/AIDS. Yet there is still much more to do, particularly on trade, and we are working closely with donors and African Governments to make sure that the commitments are fully implemented.

Iraq: Reconstruction

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what body is responsible for the oversight of UK-funded reconstruction projects in Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 11 June 2007
	In close co-ordination with the FCO and MOD, DFID is responsible for the oversight of reconstruction projects in Iraq under the auspices of the International Development Act 2002. Our programme is managed from London with support from our offices in Baghdad and Basra.
	Our priority is to build the capacity of the Iraqi Government to manage and spend their own resources effectively to deliver improved public services. We are also looking at options for supporting reconciliation and ways to reduce the level of violence. Finally, we are supporting humanitarian agencies to provide assistance to the four million displaced people in Iraq and neighbouring countries.
	The UK has pledged 744 million for reconstruction and development in Iraq since 2003. So far 610 million has been disbursed, of which 488 million has been spent by DFID (including EC contributions). This includes over 125 million to support humanitarian agencies since 2003 (10 million of which has been spent in 2007).
	DFID has reporting arrangements in place for each of our own projects. All of DFID's funds are subject to rigorous internal controls and the National Audit Office audits DFID's accounts on an annual basis. Our 2005-06 audited resource accounts are available at http://www.dfid.gov.uk/aboutdfid/resource-accounts.asp. In addition our work is regularly scrutinised by the International Development Select Committee.

Liberia: Education

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how his Department will support education in Liberia following the refusal by the Education for All Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund to fund the endorsed Liberia Education Plan.

Hilary Benn: At the Education for All Fast Track Initiative (FTI) Catalytic Fund Strategy Committee in Bonn on 23 May 2007, development partners were very encouraged by the positive steps that Liberia is taking to rebuild its education system. Liberia has been admitted to the FTI partnership on the understanding that its education recovery plan is not yet ready for funding through this channel. It will continue to be supported with planning through the FTI's education programme development fund and with additional funding support through UNICEF.
	The UK intends to support education in Liberia through the FTI's Catalytic Fund when there is consensus among all FTI partners that Liberia is eligible. The UK is contributing 150 million to the FTI.

Overseas Aid: Sri Lanka

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will provide a breakdown of how the 1 million funding announced on 24 May 2007 for Sri Lanka will be spent; and whether any of this will be provided for education programmes.

Gareth Thomas: Of the 1 million that DFID has allocated to humanitarian activities in Sri Lanka:
	800,000 will be given to ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) to contribute towards protection and assistance, including providing essential household items, hygiene kits and baby supplies.
	100,000 will be given to OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) contributing to more effective and coordinated delivery of humanitarian assistance.
	100,000 will be given to UNDSS (UN Department of Safety and Security) to contribute to safer delivery of humanitarian assistance through improved security information management, analysis and dissemination.
	No funds have been allocated for education programmes.

Palestinians: EC Aid

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what  (a) UK Government and  (b) EU studies have been undertaken into the effectiveness of the temporary international mechanism in delivering aid to the Palestinians; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The European Commission and the World Bank are working on an assessment of the effectiveness of the Temporary International Mechanism. A report is expected at the end of this month. The UK is not carrying out a separate assessment.

Sierra Leone: Education

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will provide a breakdown of how the 9 million funding for education in Sierra Leone announced on 5 April is proposed to be spent; and what the timescale is for the release of the funding.

Hilary Benn: The 9 million funding for education in Sierra Leone is the proportion of our budget support over the next four years that can be attributed to the education sector, based on continued budget support to Sierra Leone at current levels. The amount is calculated based on the proportion of overall government of Sierra Leone expenditure that goes to the education sector. In 2006 the Government expenditure was divided up as follows:
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 Teachers' salaries 61 
			 Ministry Wages 1 
			 Grants in aid, library board, planning and development services 5 
			 Pre-primary non-wage 6 
			 Secondary non-wage 6 
			 Tertiary and teachers' education 19 
			 Technical/vocational 1 
			 Capital costs 1 
		
	
	The Government of Sierra Leone have recently approved a 10-year education sector plan, which the Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund Strategy Committee agreed to partly fund, in Bonn on 23 May 2007. DFID stands ready to support this plan, along with other donors, and to help ensure that any financing gap is filled.

Somalia: Education

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will provide a breakdown of how the 9 million funding for education in Somalia announced on 5 April is proposed to be spent; and what the timescale is for the release of the funding.

Hilary Benn: The 9 million funding for education in Somalia will mainly build on our existing support to UNICEF/UNESCO education programmes in Puntland, Somaliland and, security conditions permitting, south central Somalia.
	We will also support the development of education sector strategies (jointly with the EC and other development partners); and continue to support international non-governmental organisations in education service delivery, including humanitarian education programmes, in all parts of Somalia.
	Due to the unstable situation in Somalia, it is at present difficult to give a precise breakdown as to when and how the funds will be allocated.

Somalia: Politics and Government

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Somalia; what steps have been taken by the  (a) UK and  (b) EU to improve the situation; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: While the UK has not made any direct assessment, we are kept informed by the regular assessments made by relief agencies on the ground. Fighting in and around Mogadishu in the first three months of 2007 resulted in large numbers of deaths and injuries, and has led to the largest displacement of civilians in the world this year, with an estimated 390,000 people newly displaced since the beginning of February. Most of these are additional to the existing 400,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Somalia. Without access to food, clean water and shelter these people need humanitarian assistance, as do many of those that were not displaced but lost access to services and livelihoods that were disrupted in the fighting. Prior to the fighting, the UN had estimated that 1 million people required humanitarian assistance, and had launched an appeal for $237 million to address these needs. In April this was revised upwards to $262 million in response to the newly emerging needs.
	The UK is committed to addressing urgent humanitarian needs in Somalia. In 2006 DFID allocated 16 million and so far in 2007 we have committed 3.5 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), International Medical Corps (IMC) and to Solidarities, who are establishing a rapid response mechanism to improve living conditions for IDPs in Southern Somalia. Together these programmes will contribute to delivering water and sanitation, nutrition, medical and other relief supplies to those people most in need. DFID is also considering further contributions to ICRC, United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
	The EC Humanitarian Office (ECHO) has committed 18 million for humanitarian operations in Somalia this year, including 4 million approved on 1 June in response to the additional needs that have emerged as a result of the fighting in Mogadishu at the beginning of 2007.
	The UK hosted the Somalia International Contact Group meeting in London on 6 June. This focused on how the international community could help restart the peace process. Real progress towards an end to the humanitarian crisis depends critically on progress being made towards a just and peaceful political solution in Somalia.

Sri Lanka: Overseas Aid

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effect of the political situation in Sri Lanka on the distribution of development aid.

Gareth Thomas: Sri Lanka is a middle-income country and therefore does not receive UK bilateral development aid. As part of its commitment for reconstruction the UK has given 500,000 of post-tsunami funding during 2007-08 to support good governance and small businesses in the North and East. DFID is supporting a programme to strengthen local capacity to plan, implement and monitor tsunami recovery in the north east of the country, to ensure that tsunami relief and development assistance is efficiently and equitably delivered. This programme is in partnership with the Governments of Germany and Sri Lanka.
	Through the Global Conflict Prevention Pool, the UK gives 2 million to support a series of programmes aimed at tackling the underlying causes of conflict. Humanitarian assistance and access remains our top priority in Sri Lanka. In light of the recent displacements, UK will be giving 1 million in humanitarian assistance for the estimated 300,000 currently internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka made homeless as a result of the upsurge in violence in the last year.
	The ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka hampers the efforts of the humanitarian and development agencies to deliver aid effectively. Careful assessments of the political situation and its impact on our aid are regularly made by the joint DFID/FCO office in Sri Lanka. Part of this includes an assessment of humanitarian access, which is sometimes restricted in conflict areas. The UK has signed up with other key donors to the Guiding Principles for Humanitarian and Development Assistance in Sri Lanka. These principles are derived from the International Code of Conduct of Red Cross. One of the basic requirements is to ensure unrestricted access to all people in need of assistance.

Sudan: Armed Conflict

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent estimate has been made of the numbers of  (a) internally displaced people,  (b) Sudanese refugees and  (c) civilian casualties caused by the fighting in Darfur; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The UN estimates there are 2.1 million people displaced in Darfur and a further 234,000 Darfuris who have sought refuge in neighbouring Chad. No reliable figures exist for civilian casualties. Given the impracticalities of gathering accurate current and past data, it is likely no firm figure will ever be known.
	The humanitarian situation in Darfur is extremely fragile. Through the admirable work of aid agencies, the 4 million people dependent on aid in the region have had access to vital assistance and services. The deterioration of the security situation, however, has made this increasingly difficult to sustain. Attacks on humanitarian workers are having a particularly severe impact on getting help to those most in need.
	I condemn the continuing violence targeting civilians and humanitarian workers in Darfur and I call on all sides to cease the violence immediately, renew the ceasefire and political process and accept the AU/UN peacekeeping force for Darfur.